LIBRARY 

OF  TIIK 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

GIFT   OF" 

Mrs.  SARAH  P.  WALSWORTH. 


Book 

Clay  i 

'ranci 


Received  October,  1894. 
Accessions  No .  5*7 */-  66  •      Cla&s  No . 


= 


PAUL 


THE    PREACHER. 


"  MU  zeal  must  needs  put  him  open  a  mighty  diligence  and  industry  in  the  execution  of  his  office 
warning,  reproving,  entreating,  persuading,  "preaching  in  season  and  out  of  season."  by  night  and  by 
ilny,  by  sea  and  land;  no  pains  too  much  to  be  taken,  no  dangers  too  great  to  be  overcome.  For  five  and 
thirty  years  after  his  conversion,  he  seldom  stayed  long  in  one  place  ;  from  Jerusalem,  through  Arabia , 
AsU,  Greece,  round  about  to  Illyricuni,  to  Rome,  and  even  to  the  utmost  bounds  of  the  Western  world, 
•  fully  preaching  the  gospel  of  Christ:"  running  (saith  St  Jerome)  from  ocean  to  ocean,  like  the  sun  in 
the  heavens,  of  which  it  is  said,  "  his  going  forth  is  from  the  end  of  the  heaven,  and  his  circuit  unto  the 
<nnli  of  it :"  sooner  wanting  ground  to  tread  on,  than  n  desire  to  propagate  the  fuilh  of  Christ.  Xiccphorus 
compares  him  to  a  bird  in  the  air,  that  in  a  few  years  flew  round  the  world  j  Isidore  the  Pelusiot,  to  a 
winded  hu>bandman,  that  flew  from  place  to  place  to  cultivate  the  world  with  the  most  excellent  rules 
and  institutions  of  lite.  And  while  the  other  apoetles  did,  as  it  were,  choose  this  or  that  particular  pro- 
vince as  tin-  iii-iin  sphere  of  their  ministry,  St  Paul  overran  the  whole  world  to  its  utmost  bounds  and 
corners,  planting  all  places  where  he  came  with  the  divine  doctrines  of  the  gospel.  Nor  in  this  course 
w»»  he  tired  out  with  the  dangers  and  difficulties  that  he  met  with,  the  troubles  and  oppositions  that  were 
raised  against  him." — CAVE. 


PAUL   THE   PREACHER; 


popular  and  |lradiral  drxposili 


DISCOUKSES    AND    SPEECHES, 


AS   RECORDED 


THE  ACTS  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


BY  JOHN   EADIE,   D.D.,  LL.D., 

PROFESSOR  OF   BIBLICAL   LITERATURE   TO   THK   UNITED   PKESBYTF.RIAX   CHURCH. 


words  of  St  Paul  arc  not  dead  words  ;  they  arc  living  creatures,  and  have  hands  and  feet  " 

Lt'THFF. 


NEW    YOKE: 

EGBERT     CARTER     &     BROTHERS, 

No.    530     BROADWAY. 

1859. 


GLASGOW: 

PU1STEO   BY    WILLIAM   M  \CKC.NZItt. 


PREFACE. 


THE  following  pages  are  simply  what  they  profess  to  be 
in  the  title — neither  a  life  of  Paul,  nor  a  commentary  on 
the  "Acts,"  but  an  honest  and  hearty  attempt  to  explain 
and  apply  in  a  popular  and  practical  shape  to  the  common 
reader,  the  spoken  words  of  the  apostle.  So  that  there  is 
no  array  of  minute  criticism  or  technical  exegesis,  no  for- 
mal quotation  of  authorities,  or  classified  enumeration  of 
conflicting  views.  My  uniform  effort  has  been  to  bring 
out  briefly  and  clearly  the  apostle's  meaning,  without  much 
regard  to  the  form  which  the  exposition  may  assume  ;  to 
give  the  result  without  detailing  the  process ;  to  be  in 
short  as  the  dial  of  the  watch,  which  shows  the  hour  while 
it  conceals  the  mechanism.  The  various  chapters  are  not 
sermons  bearing  on  the  subject,  nor  disquisitions  on  allied 
or  collateral  topics,  though  my  aim  has  been  throughout 
to  press  the  truth  on  the  attention  and  conscience ;  for 
what  brought  salvation  then  is  fraught  with  the  same 
blessing  still — the  gospel  of  the  first  century  being  in  no 
sense  different  from  that  of  the  nineteenth.  Though  I 
have  endeavoured  to  realize  the  more  striking  scenes  in  the 
apostle's  travels,  and  reproduce  my  impressions  of  them, 
still  the  labour  has  been  almost  wholly  expended  on  the 


PREFACE.  VI 

addresses  themselves,,  and  this  volume^  therefore,  differs  in 
contents  and  purpose  as  well  from  the  excellent  volumes 
of  Lewin,  Coneybeare  and  Howson,  as  from  those  of 
others  of  secondary  note  who  have  made  a  prey  of  these 
distinguished  authors.  Nor  need  I  give  a  list  of  commen- 
tators which  may  have  been  consulted.  The  longer  dis- 
courses will  be  found  in  new  translations,,  not  indeed 
claiming  classical  precision,  but  giving  what  is  thought 
to  be  a  broad,  correct,  and  easy  version  of  the  original. 
When  any  words  of  the  authorized  version  are  printed  in 
Italics,  followed  by  a  dash,  some  direct  explanation  of  the 
term  or  phrase  is  subjoined. 

It  is  humbly  hoped,  in  fine,  that  the  volume  may  be 
useful  in  giving  ordinary  readers  a  juster  and  fuller  con- 
ception of  the  creed  and  preaching,  the  life  and  work,  of 
the  great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  who,  amidst  all  diversities 
of  place,  time,  audience,  and  immediate  theme,  made  it 
his  constant  business  to  preach  Christ  crucified.  May  we 
know  Him  to  be  "the  power  of  God"  and  the  "wisdom 
of  God,"  and  experience  that  change  of  heart  which  is 
only  effected  by  such  a  manifestation  of  His  truth  and 
glory  as  He  vouchsafed  to  Saul  of  Tarsus. 

JOHN   EADIE. 

13  LAX3DOWNE  CRESCENT. 
May,  1869. 


CONTENTS. 


Pago 

I.  SAUL  AT  DAMASCUS,   ...         ...         ...         ...         ...         ...  1 

II.  SAUL  AT  JERUSALEM,             23 

III.  SAUL  AT  ANTIOCH  IN  SVKIA,            ...         ...         35 

IV.  SAUL  IN  CYPRUS,        ...         ...  50 

V.  PAUL  AT  ANTIOCH  IN  PISIDIA,         ...         ...         6."> 

VI.  PAUL  AT  ICONIUM ...  113 

VII.  PAUL  AT  LYSTKA,        120 

Vfll.  PAUL  AT  PHILIPPI,      139 

IX.  PAUL  AT  THESSAIX>NICA,        ...         ...  159 

X.  PAUL  AT  ATHENS,       ...         ...         ...         ...         ...         ...  177 

PART      L, 187 

PART     II., 203 

PART  III., 222 

XI.  PAUL  AT  CORINTH,      243 

XII.  PAUL  AT  EPHESUS 270 

XIII.  PAUL  AT  TROAS,          295 

XIV.  PAUL  AT  MILETUS,      309 

PART     I.    INTRODUCTORY    APPEAL   TO   THE    PAST — His 

FIDELITY,       ...         312 

PART    II.  ANTICIPATIONS  OF  THE  FUTURE — His  COURAGE,  Slfi 

PART  III.  His  CHARGE,      325 

PAKT  IV.  THE  FAREWELL,            340 

PART    V.  CONCLUDING     APPEAL    TO    THE    PAST  —  His 

DISINTERESTEDNESS,              31  i 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

XV.  PAUL  AT  JERUSALEM —  rmge 

I.    SPEECH    FROM    THE    STAIRS    OF    THE    GARRISON.  ...  352 

II.  BEFORE  THE  SANHEDRIM.        ...         ...         ...         ...  36o 

XVI.  PAUL  AT  CESAREA — 

I.  BEFORE  FELIX,  379 

II.  BEFORE  FELIX  AND  DRUSILLA.  ...         ...         ...  393 

III.  BKFOIIK  FESTUS,  404 

IV.  BEFORE  FESTUS  AND  AGRIPPA.          ...         ...         ...  408 

XVII.  PAUL  ON  THK  VOYAGE  TO  ROMK,  -...         ...         ...          ...  423 

XVIII.  PAUL  IN  ROME,  ...  430 


PAUL    THE    PKEACHEE. 


I—SAUL  AT  DAMASCUS. 

HIS    FIRST    APPEARANCE   AS   A    PREACHER. 
ACTS  ix.  19-25 ;  GAL.  i.  17 ;  2  COK.  xi.  32,  33. 

A  PROFOUND  and  permanent  change  had  suddenly  passed 
over  Saul  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Damascus.  The 
Saviour  had  shown  Himself  in  glory,  and  spoken  a  few 
words  of  gracious  power  to  him.  The  brightness  of  the 
vision  had  dazzled  him  into  blindness,  and  with  a  smitten 
heart  and  faltering  step  he  was  led  by  his  companions 
through  the  gate  into  the  city.  He  had  hoped  to  make 
the  old  Syrian  capital  the  field  of  new  triumphs,  as  he  beat 
down  the  rising  faith,  and  punished  with  merciless  rigour 
the  adherents  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  But  "  it  is  not  in  man 
that  walketh  to  direct  his  steps."  The  sunny  landscapes 
through  which  he  was  passing  suddenly  lost  their  charm 
for  the  sightless  traveller,  and  his  mind's  eye  was  turned 
inward  on  his  own  heart  and  history ;  the  noise  of  so  many 
rills — "streams  from  Lebanon" — dancing  and  singing 
through  the  gardens  that  surround  Damascus,  must  have 
fallen  faintly  upon  his  ear,  for  there  still  rung  in  it  a 
louder  voice — "  Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  Me ;" 

A 


2  SAUL  AT  DAMASCUS. 

and  that  was  the  knell  of  his  previous  life.  As  he  moved 
along  with  all  that  awkwardness  which  one  so  suddenly 
bereft  of  vision  must  have  exhibited,  even  though  "the 
men  which  journeyed  with  him "  guided  his  steps,  his 
rapt  spirit  could  be  but  little  disturbed  by  the  hum  of 
the  streets  and  the  clamour  of  the  bazaars.  The  scene 
of  his  fancied  victories  had  in  a  moment  become  the  scene 
of  deepest  anguish  and  self-prostration.  Christ  had  way- 
laid him,  and  a  brief  challenge  from  His  lips  had  at 
once  arrested  the  present  enterprise.  For,  it  is  only  when 
Christ  speaks  that  conversion  really  takes  place;  it  is 
only  when  the  soul  apprehends  His  glory  that  it  bows 
to  His  will,  and  feels  the  checks  and  impulses  of  His  grace. 
Ananias  was  induced  to  overcome  his  natural  scruples  and 
visit  Saul  at  his  lodgings,  in  the  street  called  "  Straight ;" 
and  the  first  Christian  face  which  Saul  looked  upon  with 
complacency,  was  that  of  the  "  disciple  "  at  whose  bidding 
his  blindness  departed,  and  by  baptism  at  whose  hands  he 
was  formally  admitted  into  the  church.  He  had  seen  the 
serenity  of  Stephen's  countenance  when  it  beamed  like 
that  of  an  angel,  but  his  rage  had  been  whetted  by  his 
victim's  composure.  Now  his  eyes  suddenly  opened  on  a 
visitor,  who  had  styled  him  "  Brother  Saul,"  and  it  must 
have  been  a  troubled  and  mysterious  gaze  which  he  cast 
upon  him  as  he  heard  him  repeat  the  words — "  Jesus  who 
appeared  unto  thee  by  the  way." 

Saul  had  not  been  "  forsaken,"  though  he  had  been  "cast 
down ;"  the  three  days  of  his  soul's  agony  were  to  issue 
in  peace.  His  spiritual  life,  like  that  of  plant  and  flower, 
had  germinated  in  darkness,  and  had  been  watered  by 


FIRST  THROB  OF  LIFE.  3 

tears  and  prayers ;  but  it  was  soon  to  welcome  the  light, 
and  be  trained  to  a  healthful  activity  and  expansion. 
"  Light  is  sweet,"  and  ere  the  scales  had  fallen  from  his 
eyes,  his  inner  vision  had  been  blessed  with  a  glimpse  of 
the  truth — "the  light  of  the  glorious  gospel  of  Christ" 
had  shined  in  his  heart.  He  had  undergone  in  an  instant 
the  mightiest  of  all  changes  the  soul  of  man  can  pass 
through,  and  which,  in  general  experience,  is  often  as 
sudden  as  with  him  whom  Christ  had  thus  surprised. 
There  may  be  meditations  and  resolves  and  deep  search- 
ings  of  spirit — a  succession  of  those  terrible  pangs  which 
make  the  heart  stand  still,  or  of  those  perilous  balancings 
of  probable  destiny,  when  the  soul  sends  itself  forward 
to  the  judgment,  and  strives  to  realize  it  5  there  may  be 
these  anxious  flutterings  about  the  boundary,  but  still  on 
this  side  of  it — till  in  a  moment  the  line  is  crossed,  and 
"  old  things  are  passed  away  j  behold,  all  things  are  become 
new."  As  there  is  a  first  throb  of  the  heart  in  the 
implantation  of  physical  life,  so  is  there  a  first  pulsation  of 
the  soul  through  the  energy  of  spiritual  existence.  This 
phenomenon  is  no  mental  novelty.  There  is  an  instant 
in  which  one  is  frequently  conscious  of  renouncing  one 
opinion  and  entertaining  another,  preceded,  it  may  be,  by 
scepticism,  struggle,  and  oscillation,  the  results  of  con- 
flicting proofs.  Conviction  may  work  its  way  slowly,  and 
up  to  a  certain  point,  though  in  the  end  the  conclusion  is 
suddenly  gained;  the  words  may  linger  long  on  the 
tongue,  till,  by  an  impulse  quick  as  thought,  they  are  at 
length  pronounced.  Amidst  the  mysteries  of  the  will,  this 
palpable  fact  is  often  disclosed — that  while  one  may  take 


4  SAUL  AT  DAMASCUS. 

long  to  make  up  his  mind;  his  mind  is  finally  made  up 
by  one  effort  and  in  that  second  of  time  when  preference 
loses  its  passive  character,  and  inducement  ceasing  to  be  a 
potential  becomes  an  efficient  motive.  The  instant  in 
which  Saul  heard  Jesus  name  him  was  that  of  a  total  and 
immediate  revolution,  for  the  truth  rushed  at  once  upon 
him  that  Jesus  was  true  and  divine,  dwelling  in  glory, 
and  possessed  of  sovereign  power.  The  miracle  lay  not  in 
the  change  itself,  but  in  the  way  in  which  it  was  effected ; 
the  ordinary  agencies  of  argument  and  remonstrance  being 
superseded  by  the  vision,  which,  from  its  very  nature, 
created  instantaneous  impression  and  belief. 

Still  unrelieved  of  all  his  astonishment,  and,  perhaps, 
scarcely  able  at  times  to  believe  or  realize  the  change 
which  had  come  over  him,  Saul  "  was  certain  days  with 
the  disciples  which  were  at  Damascus."  What  mingled 
sensations  must  have  been  felt  on  both  sides — a  wolf 
among  the  flock ;  he,  scarcely  able  to  identify  himself  in 
the  midst  of  the  new  associates  whom  he  had  travelled  all 
the  way  from  Jerusalem  to  devour ;  and  they  with  diffi- 
culty regarding  him  as  a  brother,  at  whose  threatened 
approach  they  had  been  so  terrified.  What  Charles  IX. 
would  have  been  to  a  trembling  company  of  Huguenots 
after  the  blood  and  panic  of  St.  Bartholomew,  had  he 
avowed  himself  a  protestant,  and,  lowering  his  sceptre, 
besought  their  forgiveness  and  fellowship ;  what  Laud 
would  have  been  to  a  secret  assembly  of  Puritans,  had  he 
owned  himself  a  convert,  and  flinging  his  mitre  to  the 
ground,  asked  with  tears  to  be  admitted  to  their  commu- 
nion ;  what  Claverhouse  would  have  been  to  a  nocturnal 


SUEPKISE   AT   DAMASCUS   AND   JERUSALEM.  5 

meeting  of  Covenanters,  had  he  suddenly  burst  in  among 
them,  protesting  that  now  he  was  one  of  them,  and  claim- 
ing, as  he  tossed  his  sword  from  him,  their  commiseration 
and  prayers — that  must  Paul  have  been  to  the  disciples  at 
Antioch.  The  whole  scene  was  so  strange,  that  they  must 
have  been  somewhat  bewildered,  while  "  they  rejoiced  for 
the  deliverance."  Where  were  now  the  letters  and  the 
commission  from  the  inquisitors  in  Jerusalem  ?  Where 
now  the  terror  produced  by  the  well-known  project  "to 
bind  all  that  call  on  Thy  name  ?  "  The  thunder-cloud  had 
dissolved  as  it  approached. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  must  have  been  in  Jerusalem  no 
little  anxiety  for  intelligence  of  Saul's  doings  at  Damascus, 
with  high  anticipations  of  his  success.  It  must  have  been 
felt  by  his  employers,  that  whatever  ardour  and  an  un- 
flinching sense  of  duty  could  do,  would  be  done  by  him. 
The  business  was  felt  to  be  safe  in  the  experienced  hands 
of  him  of  Tarsus.  But  no  tidings  came — no  roll  of 
persons  arraigned,  imprisoned,  or  tortured.  What  then  ? 
Probably  flying  rumours  preceded — strange  whispers/the 
origin  of  which  could  not  be  traced ;  and  yet  each  member 
of  the  Sanhedrim  might,  in  his  perplexity,  be  asking  his 
neighbour  if  he  had  heard  them.  Something  unusual 
must  have  occurred — something  that  could  not  well  be 
explained.  At  last  there  burst  upon  them  the  news  that 
Saul  had  turned  renegade ;  that  their  trusted  and  favourite 
agent  had  betrayed  them  ;  nay,  that  he  had  actually  gone 
over  to  the  enemy,  and  was  openly  preaching  the  hated 
faith.  The  council  would  scarcely  credit  such  a  rumour, 
but  it  was  soon  and  amply  confirmed.  No  doubt  they 


6  SAUL  AT   DAMASCUS. 

were  stunned ;  and  some  might  mutter  in  their  rage  and 
wonder — "The  earth  and  all  the  inhabitants  thereof  are 
dissolved,  we  bear  up  the  pillars  of  it."     Who  could  have 
dreamed  that  one  so  deeply  committed  as  Saul;  one  so 
high  in  confidence,  and  who  had  lived  but  to  suppress  the 
infant  religion ;  one  who  had  volunteered  to  go  on  such  an 
errand,   so  fully  equipped  with   credentials,  ay,  and   so 
sharply  goaded  on  by  his  own  zeal  and  fury — who  could 
ever  have  dreamed  that  he,  of  all  men,  should  waver,  far 
less  apostatize  ?    The  riddle  could  not  be  solved,  though 
many  explanatory  hypotheses  would  soon  be  in  circulation^ 
and  every  solution  but  the  true  one  received.     The  frantic 
commotion  at  Jerusalem  is  the  counterpart  of  the  joyous 
amazement  at  Damascus.     Judaism  had  lost,  Christianity 
had  won  ;  the  loss  was  deplored  or  cursed,  but  the  gain  to 
that  age  and  all  ages  after  it  could  not  be  calculated. 
For  it  was  not  simply  the  sudden  stoppage  of  a  bloody 
and  malignant  career,  nor  the  mere  peace  of  the  saints  in 
Damascus.     There  lay  in  that  change  not  only  the  germ  of 
a  mighty  power  and  many  a  successful  sermon,  but  there 
also  sprang  from  it  toil  and  travel  beyond  the  narrow  limits 
of  Judea,  the  conception  of  a  gospel  offered  to  men  without 
distinction  of  blood  or  nation,  and  the  composition  of  those 
letters  of  solace  and  warning,  instruction  and  precept,  which 
form  so  large  a  portion  of  the  New  Testament.    Saul  became 
the  living  repository  of  Christ's  chosen  purpose,  as  a  "  light 
to  lighten  the  Gentiles,"  and  he  wrought  out  that  ideal  of 
a  church  which  the  Lord  had  sketched  to  him,  and  which, 
rising   above  what  was  local  and  temporary,  gladdened 
Antioch  and  penetrated  Eome,  despaired  not  of  Athens 


HIS  COURAGE.  7 

and  shrank  not  from  Corinth  ;  which,  in  short,  has  hallowed 
Europo;  and  shall  stretch  itself  over  the  world. 

"  Lord  !  thou  wilt  surely  greet 

Souls  for  Thy  service  meet  ; 
No  bars  of  brass  can  keep  Thine  own  from  Thee. 

O  !  vainly  Earth  and  Hell 

Guard  their  grand  captives  well 
Against  the  glimpses  of  Thy  radiancy. 

Thou  streamest  on  their  startled  eyes, 
And  makest  them  Thine  own  by  some  Divine  surprise. 

"  Forth  from  the  leaguer  fell 

Wherein  Thy  foemen  dwell, 
The  glorious  captains  of  Thy  host  Thou  takest  ; 

The  mighty  souls  that  came 

To  quench  the  sacred  flame, 
The  bearers  of  the  Heavenly  Fire  Thou  makest; 

And  hands  that  vexed  Thy  people  most 
Do  wave  the  greenest  palms  of  all  the  Martyr  Host. 

"  The  light  not  vainly  glowed 

On  that  Damascus  road  : 
O  not  for  nought  that  Voice  Divine  was  heard, 

The  foeman  was  overthrown, 

The  champion  made  Thine  own 
When  right  against  Thee  in  hot  haste  he  spurred  : 

Then  streamed  forth  the  world  to  win 
The  mighty  burning  flame  of  Love  which  hate  had  been." 

But  Saul's  mental  temperament  was  neither  blighted 
nor  changed.  A  brief  and  single  declaration  of  the  his- 
torian reveals  his  nature,  and  portrays  the  first  appearance 
of  PAUL  THE  PREACHER  —  "  Straightway  he  preached 
Christ  in  the  synagogues  —  that  he  is  the  Son  of  God." 
So  soon  as  his  own  opinions  were  formed,  he  began  to 
urge  them.  He  could  as  yet  have  no  full  or  adjusted 
knowledge  of  the  gospel;  for  he  neither  received  it  nor 


8  SAUL  AT  DAMASCUS. 

was  taught  it  "of  man,  but  by  the  revelation  of  Jesus 
Christ"  in  a  series  of  disclosures,  made  to  him  in  all 
probability  during  his  subsequent  long  stay  in  the  deserts 
of  Arabia,  where  alone  and  without  disturbance  he  was 
brought  face  to  face  with  the  Lord,  and  had  laid  bare 
to  his  inspection  the  truth  and  relations,  the  connections 
and  evidences  of  that  great  scheme,  in  the  "defence  and 
confirmation"  of  which  he  spent  his  life  and  met  his 
death.  But  in  the  meantime  he  acted  up  to  his  light — 
what  views  he  had  he  dared  to  express.  He  longed  to 
disentangle  others  from  the  errors  which  had  so  long  en- 
slaved himself,  for  his  was  one  of  those  practical  natures  in 
which  conviction  is  identical  with  action.  "  Straightway 
he  preached :"  no  wasting  of  strength  by  oscillation  of  pur- 
pose— no  pang  of  shame  that  he  must  teach  the  religion 
which  he  had  laboured,  with  stripes,  and  chains,  and  blood, 
to  exterminate — no  compromise  with  his  feelings,  as  if  he 
should  only  hint  his  doubts,  and  try  to  bring  the  question 
to  a  quiet  discussion.  He  would  not  wear  any  disguise 
— "  Straightway  he  preached."  He  had  come  to  the  truth, 
and  he  instantly  was  in  an  agony  to  inform  others ;  for  he 
knew  their  wants  and  also  their  prejudices.  The  Master's 
commission  pressed  upon  him,  and  he  must  at  once  make 
amends  for  the  havoc  which  he  had  wrought  in  the 
churches.  Therefore  he  entered  on  the  work,  heedless 
of  what  might  be  thought  of  him,  of  what  opprobrious 
epithets  might  be  heaped  upon  him,  or  what  ferocious 
enmity  might  be  excited  against  him.  Name  and  fame, 
with  all  objects  of  youthful  aspiration,  he  threw  aside, 
nor  once  cast  a  longing  glance  at  them.  "  What  things 


A   MORAL   MIRACLE.  9 

were  gain  to  me,  those  I  counted  loss  for  Christ.'7  And 
he  preached  with  constitutional  intrepidity.  He  did 
not  quietly  ask  a  few  of  the  more  pious  and  peaceful 
Jews  to  his  apartments  "in  the  house  of  Judas"  to  talk 
over,  without  danger,  the  topics  of  dispute.  He  did  not 
suggest  such  a  timorous  course,  as  if  alarmed  at  his 
change,  or  doubtful  of  his  tenacity.  No.  "  Straightway  he 
preached  in  the  synagogues."  Fearlessly  he  entered  into 
their  religious  assemblies,  and  preached  in  the  places  where 
he  had  expected  to  scourge  and  torture  the  Christians, 
making  them,  as  he  had  uniformly  done  in  Judea,  scenes 
of  violence  and  outrage,  of  tears  and  blasphemy.  It  was  a 
novel  spectacle,  and  his  audience  could  scarcely  believe  in 
its  reality.  It  was  passing  strange,  even  to  disciples.  He 
whose  rumoured  coming  had  so  terrified  them,  was  now 
their  ablest  and  boldest  advocate.  Such  a  moral  miracle  can 
the  grace  of  Christ  achieve.  The  assemblies  of  the  Jews 
must  have  been  convulsed  with  agitation — wonder  on  one 
countenance,  incredulity  on  another — the  eye  of  one  suf- 
fused with  tears,  and  the  teeth  of  another  gnashing  in 
frenzy ;  while  some  tortuous  spirits  might  cherish  a  forlorn 
hope  that  possibly  the  whole  was  a  deep  intrigue — a  piece  of 
daring  hypocrisy  to  detect  the  Christians,  and  sweep  them 
off  in  one  resistless  shock.  And  yet  that  earnestness 
could  scarcely  be  assumed — those  calm  and  commanding 
tones  came  from  the  heart :  life  and  spirit  were  in  those 
weighty  and  well-chosen  words. 

And  the  speaker  did  not  fence  about  the  subject,  suggest 
some  compromise,  or  deal  in  vapid  generalities;  but  he 
openly  and  distinctly  preached  "Jesus,  that  He  is  the  Son 


10  SAUL  AT  DAMASCUS. 

of  God. "  This  was  the  pith  and  marrow  of  the  controversy ; 
not  simply  that  Messiah  was  divine,  or  that  the  great  Deliv- 
erer should  be  superhuman,  but  that  Jesus  the  babe  of 
Bethlehem — "despised  and  rejected"  of  the  nation,  seized 
and  "  hanged  upon  a  tree  " — was  the  Son  of  God.  Son  of 
God  was,  in  fact,  a  name  of  the  Messiah.  Nathaniel  uses  it 
— "  Kabbi,  thou  art  the  Son  of  God."  Peter  employed  it 
— "  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God." 
"  Art  thou  the  Son  of  the  Blessed?"  asked  Caiphas,  "  and 
Jesus  said,  I  am."  "  Whosoever,"  adds  the  beloved  dis- 
ciple, "  shall  confess  that  Jesus  is  the  Son  of  God,  God 
dwelleth  in  him,  and  he  in  God."  The  Angel  of  the 
Covenant,  so  often  referred  to  in  Hebrew  narrative  and 
oracle,  and  who  is  identifiable  with  the  promised  Saviour, 
was  divine — no  created  Angel,  but  the  Son  of  God  often 
appearing  in  man's  form,  as  if  delighting  to  anticipate  his 
future  assumption  of  humanity.  "  I  am  Jesus,"  said  the 
voice  which  arrested  Saul,  "  the  voice  from  the  excellent 
glory ;"  and,  therefore,  he  argued  that  this  Jesus  who  had 
spoken  to  his  inmost  soul,  and  filled  it  with  a  new  life  and 
power,  was  the  Son  of  God.  His  first  sermon  only  told  in 
other  words  that  "  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  He  gave  His 
only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in  Him  should 
not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."  The  Son  of  Mary  was 
the  Son  of  God,  the  divine  and  divinely-promised  Saviour. 
Now  the  proofs  that  Messiah  should  be  the  Son  of  God 
must  have  been  taken  principally  from  the  Old  Testament. 
The  references  in  "the  Law  and  the  Prophets"  must  have 
been  the  leading  steps  of  the  demonstration.  Nor  are 
they  few  nor  unimpressive.  The  names  of  Messiah  are 


NAMES  OF  MESSIAH.  11 

significant  and  full  of  mystery,  and  He  who  wears  them 
must  be  divine.  Thus,  in  Genesis,  He  is  the  woman's 
'  Seed,'  and  He  alone  of  all  men  was  born  of  a  virgin — the 
1  Seed '  of  Abraham,  too,  in  whom  all  the  nations  of  the 
earth  were  to  be  blessed — and  '  the  Shiloh'  springing  out 
of  Judah,  to  whom  l  the  gathering  of  the  people  shall  be  : 7 
in  Exodus,  the  occupant  of  the  burning  bush — Jehovah's 
'  Angel '  and  yet  Jehovah  himself— i  I  AM  THAT  I  AM,'  the 
name  of  uncaused  and  unchanging  Essence  :  in  Leviticus, 
the  God  of  that  tabernacle,  the  splendour  of  whose  golden 
furniture  was  dimmed  by  the  resident  glory  of  its  divine 
Architect :  in  Numbers,  the  King  and  Lawgiver,  with  the 
cloud  by  day  and  the  pillar  of  fire  by  night,  the  symbols 
of  His  awful  and  protecting  presence:  in  Deuteronomy, 
the  '  Prophet  like  unto  Moses,'  raised  up  from  among  his 
brethren,  Jehovah  speaking  to  him  face  to  face — for  so  it 
was  with  the  son  of  Amram :  in  Joshua,  the  l  Captain  of  the 
Lord's  Host'  with  the  drawn  sword,  before  whom  Jericho 
fell  without  the  stroke  of  a  battering  ram,  or  the  digging  of 
a  trench :  in  Judges,  the  i  Angel  who  did  wondrously,'  and 
went  up  in  the  smoke  and  flame  of  Manoah's  accepted  sac- 
rifice :  in  the  Books  of  Samuel,  Kings,  and  Chronicles,  the 
Head  and  Guardian  of  the  Theocracy,  for  under  it  to  fear 
God  and  to  honour  the  king  were  one  and  the  same  thing : 
in  Job,  the  l  Daysman  who  can  lay  His  hand  upon  both,'  and 
the  '  Kedeemer  who  shall  stand  at  the  latter  day  upon  the 
earth : '  in  Psalms,  '  David's  Son  and  David's  Lord,7  the 
Priest-king  'for  ever,  after  the  order  of  Melchisedec,'  whose 
body  was  prepared  for  him  by  God,  and  which,  though  it 
went  down  to  the  grave,  did  not  "see  corruption:"  in 


12  SAUL  AT   DAMASCUS. 

Proverbs,  the  incarnate  'Wisdom,  by  Him,  brought  up 
with  Him,  rejoicing  always  before  Him:'  in  the  Song  of 
Songs,  the  august  Bridegroom,  whose  royal  splendour  is 
equalled  by  his  conjugal  affection  :  in  Isaiah,  the  i  Servant 
of  Jehovah,'  despised  and  scorned,  '  wounded  for  our  trans- 
gressions, and  bruised  for  our  iniquities;'  slain,  but  yet 
crowned  and  compensated  for  His  sufferings,  having 
divided  to  Him  'a  portion  with  the  great,'  Himself  '  divid- 
ing the  spoil  with  the  strong : '  in  Jeremiah,  the  '  Lord  our 
Kighteousness : '  in  Ezekiel,  i  the  likeness  of  a  Man '  on 
the  sapphire- throne,  served  by  the  cherubim,  and  guiding 
the  mystic  mechanism  of  '  the  wheel  within  the  wheel : '  in 
Daniel,  c  Messiah  cut  off,  but  not  for  Himself — the  l  Son 
of  man  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven : '  in  Hosea,  the 
plague  of  death  and  destroyer  of  the  grave :  in  Joel,  the 
Lord  and  dispenser  of  the  Spirit :  in  Amos,  the  '  Kepairer 
of  the  breaches'  in  David's  tabernacle:  in  Micah,  the  'Ruler' 
whose  birth  is  to  be  at  Bethlehem,  and  whose  c  goings  forth 
have  been  of  old,  from  everlasting : '  in  Zephaniah, '  He  who 
rests  in  his  love,  and  joys  over  his  people  with  singing:'  in 
Haggai,  the  l  Desire  of  all  nations : '  in  Zechariah,  the  i  Man 
whose  name  is  the  Branch ; '  and,  the  '  Sun  of  Righteous- 
ness,' in  the  book  of  Malachi.  And  then  came  the  argument 
that  these  descriptive  epithets  met  in  Jesus,  and  that  His 
whole  life  embodied  them.  The  preacher  must  have  heard 
often  of  Jesus,  and  may  have,  at  a  prior  period,  learned 
the  leading  facts  of  His  career  in  a  distorted  shape.  But 
a  few  days  in  Damascus  must  have  given  him  detailed  and 
accurate  information,  and  his  trained  mind  was  soon  able  to 
arrange  it,  and  use  it  to  advantage. 


SOLITARY  PREPARATION.  13 

A  Christian  teacher  must  not  be  a  "  novice  "  or  recent 
convert,  lest  he  be  lifted  up  with  pride  by  his  speedy  ele- 
vation. So  the  apostle  ruled,  and  so  he  exemplified  it. 
He  had  shown  the  Jews  of  Damascus  the  change  which  had 
come  over  him,  and  he  had  laboured  to  make  them  par- 
takers of  his  own  vivid  and  imperious  convictions.  What 
success  attended  his  labours  we  know  not;  perhaps  the 
suddenness  of  his  conversion  may  have  made  him  an 
object  of  suspicion  and  distrust ;  some  might  be  disposed 
to  wait  for  further  explanations  of  it,  as  if  some  chain  of 
subordinate  and  personal  motives  might  have  led  to  it  ; 
others  might  compassionate  him  as  partially  bereft  of  his 
intellect  by  the  startling  radiance  that  had  enveloped  him 
near  the  bridge  where  he  and  his  companions  had  fallen ; 
as  in  short  labouring  under  some  hallucination  which  might 
gradually  pass  off,  so  that,  as  soon  as  he  should  come  to 
himself,  he  should  return  more  fondly  and  fixedly  to  his 
original  creed.  From  whatever  reason,  the  apostle  left 
Damascus,  and  retired  into  the  neighbouring  deserts,  where, 
perhaps,  he  might  maintain  himself  by  his  handicraft  as  a 
tent-maker;  tent-cloth,  or  a  coarse  cashmere,  being  woven  of 
the  hair  of  the  shaggy  goats  in  that  region,  as  in  his  native 
province  of  Cilicia.  In  those  solitudes  the  apostle  spent  a 
lengthened  period.  There  his  soul  must  have  communed 
much  with  itself  and  God,  and  there  he  enjoyed  successive 
revelations  of  the  scheme  of  mercy.  Great  disclosures  have 
resulted  from  solitary  study,  and  from  musing  in  scenes — 

"Where  woven  shades  shut  out  the.  light  of  day, 
While,  towering  near,  the  rugged  mountains  make 
Dark  back-ground  'gainst  the  sky," 


14  SAUL  AT   DAMASCUS. 

discoveries  in  science,  inventions  in  art,  and  forms  of 
ideal  beauty  have  flashed  upon  the  self-rapt  spirit  as  it 
held  secret  fellowship  with  nature.  Dreams  have  fallen 
on  it  which  indicate  the  dawn  of  a  better  philosophy,  and 
it  has  given  incidental  utterance  to  hints  which  have 
proved  themselves  the  seeds  of  a  bounteous  harvest.  "  An 
horror  of  great  darkness  "  may  have  occasionally  enveloped 
him,  for  the  mighty  change  did  not  mechanically  fortify 
him  against  all  memories,  or  shut  out  from  him  all  antici- 
pations. His  susceptible  nature  must  have  undergone  a 
process  involving  every  variety  of  emotion  and  soliloquy ; 
casting  up  the  motives  of  the  past,  and  forecasting  the 
possibilities  of  the  future ;  taking  the  measure  of  itself  in 
searching  and  repeated  self-questionings;  sounding  the 
depths  of  its  convictions  and  resolves ;  a  lifetime  in  awful- 
ness  and  intensity  of  feeling,  and  in  depth,  vastness,  and 
pressure  of  thought,  crowded  into  the  space  of  a  few  short 
months.  Such  agonies  of  preparation  are  the  prelude  to 
valiant  deeds :  the  Slough  of  Despond  precedes  the  firm 
path,  and  the  Valley  of  Humiliation  lies  in  front  of  the 
Delectable  Mountains. 

Saul  studied  theology  in  no  earthly  school,  and  under 
no  human  teacher.  He  called  no  man  master,  and  after 
he  left  the  feet  of  Gamaliel  he  never  occupied  a  similar 
relation  towards  any  other  human  being.  Nor  yet  did 
he  think  out  the  various  truths  of  the  gospel  for  himself, 
or  with  the  assistance  of  kindred  minds.  The  doctrines 
which  he  subsequently  proclaimed  were  not  evolved  by 
such  a  secret  and  prolonged  mental  process  as  a  daring 
and  speculative  spirit  loves  to  indulge  in ;  for  they  were 


SPECIAL  INSPIRATION.  15 

in  no  sense  "after  man" — neither  in  man's  style  of  creation 
nor  expression.  The  revelations  which  the  recluse  enjoyed, 
suspended  his  natural  powers  only  so  far  as  inventive 
genius  was  concerned.  He  had  not  to  excogitate  a  system, 
but  he  had  still  to  connect  and  comprehend  the  disclosures 
made  to  him.  What  the  Divine  Teacher  time  after  time 
communicated  to  him,  that  he  would  revolve  and  meditate 
on,  viewing  it  in  all  lights  and  upon  all  sides ;  till  being 
mastered  in  sum  and  in  detail,  it  was  inwoven  with  his 
spiritual  constitution,  and  became  a  portion  of  himself. 
The  great  reformer  of  philosophy  could  truly  say — Thus 
Bacon  thought ;  but  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles  could  only 
affirm — Thus  was  I  taught.  On  such  revelations  he  casts 
himself  when  his  authority  is  open  to  question,  as  when, 
in  writing  on  the  Lord's  Supper  to  the  Corinthians,  and 
referring  to  his  account  of  the  first  scene,  himself  not  having 
been  present,  he  affirms — "  I  have  received  of  the  Lord  that 
which  also  I  delivered  unto  you."  So,  when  about  to 
describe  the  free  and  full  admission  of  Gentiles  into  the 
church — an  idea  that  excited  no  little  prejudice,  and  met 
with  no  common  antagonism — he  solemnly  avers  "how  that 
by  revelation  He  made  known  unto  me  the  mystery ;"  or  as 
when  he  portrays  the  solemn  mysteries  of  the  last  day — 
the  rising  of  "the  dead  in  Christ"  before  the  change  of  the 
living — he  announces,  "This  we  say  unto  you  by  the 
word  of  the  Lord."  After  the  musings  and  revelations  in 
Arabia,  the  "  chosen  vessel"  was  so  filled  with  divine 
communication,  that  his  chiefest  pleasure  afterwards  lay  in 
giving  it  out.  By  a  resistless  law  of  his  spiritual  nature, 
he  could  not  but  speak  what  his  soul  was  surcharged  with  j 


16  SAUL  AT   DAMASCUS. 

and  whether  he  thought  of  its  truth  or  of  its  grace,  its  origin 
from  God  or  its  adaptation  to  man,  it  became  a  "  neces- 
sity "  for  him  to  proclaim  it.  Saturated  with  evangelical 
truth,  and  urged  on  by  the  constraining  power  of  the  love 
of  Christ,  Saul  returned  to  Damascus.  And  now,  as  he 
was  more  powerful  in  argument,  his  appeals  must  have 
been  armed  with  a  keener  barb  than  on  his  first  visit. 

So  that,  after  narrating  the  natural  wonder  and  talk  of 
spectators,  the  historian  adds — "  But  Saul  increased  the 
more  in  strength,  and  confounded  the  Jews  which  dwelt 
at  Damascus,  proving  that  this  is  very  Christ " — proving — 
forging  link  after  link  in  a  chain  of  argument.  Oppo- 
sition did  not  daunt  him.  No  appeal  to  the  tenor  of  his 
past  life  could  shame  him — no  satirical  remarks  about 
consistency  could  put  him  out.  He  rose  in  intellec- 
tual and  spiritual  power.  He  was  well  aware,  from  his 
own  experience,  what  were  the  strongholds  of  Pharisaic 
pride  and  fanaticism.  He  could  anticipate  every  objection, 
remove  every  scruple,  and  so  enter  into  the  spirit  of  his 
opponents  as  to  meet  and  refute  every  doubt.  He  had  but 
to  remember  how  himself  had  felt  and  reasoned,  and  he 
was  armed  for  his  task,  and  then,  with  his  new  and  addi- 
tional information,  he  confounded  the  Jews  which  dwelt  at 
Damascus.  As  he  heaped  proof  upon  proof  in  intense 
accumulation,  as  he  laid  bare  their  sophisms  and  gave  them 
a  vivid  anatomy  of  their  inner  nature,  transferred  his  own 
experience  to  them,  exposed  every  prejudice,  and  overturned 
every  refuge  of  lies — no  wonder  he  "confounded"  them; 
that  is,  he  so  perplexed  them  with  his  reasonings,  that 
ingenuity  failed  them — they  were  struck  dumb,  and  could 


CHRIST,  THE  ANOINTED  ONE.  17 

not  reply.  They  "  could  not  resist  the  wisdom  and  power1' 
by  which  he  spake,  as  he  was  "  proving  that  this  is  very 
Christ;"  that  this  man  who  passed  among  men  by  the 
name  of  Jesus,  is  verily  the  long-promised  and  long- 
expected  Christ  or  Messiah — that  is,  the  anointed  One — 
having  in  the  unction  of  the  Holy  Ghost  the  seal  and 
signal  of  His  commission,  and  the  great  element  of  His 
qualification ;  for  God  gave  "  Him  not  the  Spirit  by 
measure" — "the  Spirit  of  counsel  and  might" — the  Spirit 
which  descended  "  like  a  dove,  and  it  abode  upon  Him  " — 
since  He  was  "justified  in  the  Spirit; "  "by  the  Spirit  of 
God"  He  wrought  miracles;  "through  the  eternal  Spirit" 
He  offered  Himself;  put  to  death  in  the  flesh,  He  was 
"  quickened  by  the  Spirit ;"  nay,  He  was  "  declared  to  be 
the  Son  of  God,  according  to  the  Spirit  of  holiness,  by 
the  resurrection  from  the  dead." 

The  evidence  must  have  rested  on  a  comparison  of 
Christ's  life  with  the  "prophecies  that  went  before  con- 
cerning" Him.  That  evidence  is  varied  and  convincing. 
He  was  born  at  Bethlehem,  as  Micah  had  predicted,  and 
before  the  four  hundred  and  ninety  years  had  expired,  as 
Daniel  had  foretold ;  born  of  a  virgin,  and  of  the  family  of 
David,  as  the  seers  had  announced  ;  walking  and  worship- 
ping in  the  second  temple,  as  the  last  of  the  prophets 
had  pre-intimated ;  baptized  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
assuming  a  public  ministry,  for  thus  had  He  been  heralded ; 
speaking,  and  that  by  parable,  as  the  Psalmist  had  avouched ; 
working,  and  that  by  miracle,  as  Isaiah  had  chanted; 
living  a  holy  and  gentle  life,  as  long  ago  pencilled  by  the 
Spirit ;  betrayed  by  His  "  own  familiar  friend  which  did  eat 

B 


18  SAUL  AT  DAMASCUS. 

of  His  bread  5"  apprehended  and  put  to  death,  according 
to  "  the  determinate  counsel  and  foreknowledge  of  God  •  " 
His  hands  and  feet  pierced,  and  yet  "  not  a  bone  of  Him 
broken,"  for  so  had  it  been  fore-pictured ;  offered  vinegar 
in  His  thirst,  as  His  suffering  prototype  had  drunk  before 
Him ;  "  numbered  among  transgressors,"  for  such  had 
been  the  strange  and  awful  utterance;  a  grave  prepared 
Him  with  the  two  thieves,  and  yet  laid  in  the  tomb  of 
"a  rich  man,"  who  begged  His  body;  the  execrated  of  the 
world,  and  yet  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 

Such  a  demonstration  was  Saul's  special  work  in  the 
meantime.  He  upheld  the  claims  of  Jesus,  as  he  was  for 
the  second  time  confronted  with  his  countrymen,  and  there 
were  fifty  thousand  of  them  in  Damascus.  He  did  not 
beat  about  the  question,  but  brought  it  at  once  into  earnest 
conflict.  It  was  a  question  of  life  and  death — it  was 
the  question  of  the  age — the  question  for  all  ages — the 
identification  of  Jesus  with  that  divine  Emancipator 
whom  the  Hebrew  bards  had  sung  of  in  rapturous  antici- 
pation— with  Him  who,  in  taking  humanity,  was  to  redeem 
it,  and  in  descending  to  the  world  was  to  lift  it  out  of 
degradation  and  ruin,  and  elevate  it  to  renewed  fellowship 
with  its  Creator.  It  needed  faith,  indeed,  to  comprehend 
the  mystery,  for  there  had  been  no  external  manifestation. 
He  was  not  born  in  a  palace,  nor  swaddled  "in  soft 
raiment."  The  Babe  did  not  sleep  on  a  lordly  couch,  nor 
was  there  a  glory  round  the  head  of  the  Youth.  The  Man 
was  not  surrounded  with  oriental  luxuries,  but  He  handled 
hammer  and  hatchet,  when  He  earned  His  bread  by  the 
sweat  of  His  brow  and  felt  the  primal  curse.  He  wore  no 


THE  VERY   CHRIST.  19 

divine  livery,  as  He  wrought  His  miracles ;  and  when  He 
died,  no  choir  of  angels  were  heard  singing  hymns  of  com- 
fort in  His  ear.  What  about  Him,  then,  signalized  Him  ? 
It  needed  a  keen  eye  to  watch  Him,  so  as  to  detect  His 
higher  nature.  But  then,  as  you  compare  Him  with  the 
olden  oracles,  who  can  doubt  their  fulfilment  in  Him? 
Moses  throws  a  halo  over  his  successor  "like  unto"  him. 
Aaron,  clothed  with  the  ephod  and  breast-plate,  and  car- 
rying "the  blood  of  goats  and  calves,"  represents  Him 
dying  and  pleading.  David,  with  his  diadem  on  his  brow, 
claims  Him  as  his  Son,  and  last  and  great  successor. 
Yes,  this  is  He,  seen  in  the  light  of  type  and  prophecy. 
O  surely  it  is  a  sin  of  sins  to  reject  Him.  If  men  are 
"  confounded,"  and  yet  are  not  convinced;  if  they  cannot 
refute  the  proof,  and  yet  in  defiance  of  it  will  not  admit 
the  conclusion ;  if,  though  vanquished  in  argument,  they 
withhold  their  faith,  and  fall  back  on  prejudice,  or 
wrap  themselves  in  indifference — then  surely  theirs  is 
the  terrible  condemnation  of  those  who  "love  the  dark- 
ness rather  than  the  light,"  and,  wilfully  shrouding 
themselves  in  the  gloom,  gather  it  in  thickening  folds 
around  them  for  ever.  If  this  be  the  very  Christ,  let  us 
hail  His  advent  with  rapture,  contemplate  His  life  in 
admiration,  open  our  hearts  to  His  words,  strive  to 
imbibe  His  spirit  of  untiring  beneficence,,  prostrate 
ourselves  in  awful  wonder  round  His  cross,  survey  His 
empty  tomb  with  sabbatic  gladness,  and  follow  Him  with 
loud  hosannahs  as  He  ascends  to  His  throne  of  Glory. 
Thou,  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God  and  first-born  Child 
of  Mary — the  living  embodiment  of  Abraham's  far-off 


20  SAUL  AT  DAMASCUS. 

visions  and  David's  gladsome  paeans  5  Thou;  the  Ange" 
of  the  Covenant  and  the  Man  of  sorrows ;  Thou,  the 
Lord  of  the  temple  and  the  Infant  of  the  manger — Blessed 
Jesus,  Thou  art  the  very  Christ ! 

Saul's  preaching  during  his  second  sojourn  of  "  many 
days "  at  Damascus,  so  provoked  his  enemies  that  they 
resolved  on  his  assassination — a  miserable  weapon  of 
defence,  and  the  token,  too,  of  conscious  defeat.  The 
same  spirit  was  rising  against  Saul  as  had  risen  in  his 
own  mind  against  Stephen.  He  saw  his  former  self  alive 
again  in  those  adversaries,  and  by  himself  could  measure 
their  truculent  ferocity.  The  tormentor  became  in  turn  the 
tormented — the  knife  he  had  whetted  was  pointed  against 
himself.  "  I  will  show  him  how  great  things  he  must 
suffer  for  my  name's  sake,"  said  the  Lord  to  Ananias ; 
and  the  neophyte  soon  began  to  learn  the  lesson,  and  he 
who  was  "  in  perils  oft "  never  ceased  to  learn  it.  The 
Jews  in  many  cities  had  a  species  of  separate  internal 
government,  with  a  local  magistrate  of  their  own  race, 
somewhat  in  the  same  way  as  British  residents  in  a  foreign 
port  are  under  the  protection  of  a  British  consul.  When, 
therefore,  "  they  took  counsel  to  kill  him,"  they  obtained 
the  assistance  of  the  garrison,  so  as  to  seize  him  and  pre- 
vent his  flight.  But  his  friends  interfered :  the  ethnarch 
under  Aretas  missed  his  prey ;  and  the  sentinels  at  the 
gates  found  their  vigilance  ineffective.  That  life  was  too 
richly  laden  to  be  so  prematurely  cut  off:  "Through  a 
window  in  a  basket  was  I  let  down  by  the  wall,  and 
escaped."  He  who  had  entered  Damascus  a  blind  and 
stricken  traveller,  left  it  a  fugitive  in  haste  and  by  night, 


SPIRITUAL   HEROISM.  21 

as  if  he  had  committed  a  crime,  and  sought  in  cowardice 
to  avoid  the  penalty.  His  sincerity  was  tried,  but  he 
wavered  not;  the  strength  of  his  convictions  was  put 
to  a  hard  and  sudden  test,  but  he  stood  it.  Henceforth 
he  might  be  used  for  any  service  the  Master  required 
—to  do  or  to  suffer;  for  the  one  or  the  other  he  was 
alike  prepared,  for  into  both  he  had  been  thus  early 
initiated.  Men  may,  by  shifting  sides,  get  greater  popu- 
larity and  a  higher  reputation  for  honesty.  They  may 
become  leaders  in  the  new  warfare,  or  from  a  lower  pin- 
nacle they  may  be  lifted  to  the  summit,  and  the  feeling 
that  they  are  first  may  compensate  them  for  any  odium  or 
satire  which  their  change  may  have  provoked.  But  Saul 
had  no  cheering  prospect  of  this  nature ;  for  he  was  scorned 
by  the  Jews,  then  assaulted  by  the  Judaizing  Chris- 
tians, and  perhaps  never  fully  trusted  by  the  original 
apostles.  His  life  was  but  a  battle  and  a  march,  and  a 
march  and  a  battle,  doing  and  suffering,  suffering  and  doing. 
He  was  weak  in  every  man's  weakness,  and  burning  with 
every  man's  offence ;  "in  weariness  and  painfulness,  in 
watchings  often,  in  hunger  and  thirst,  in  cold  and  naked- 
ness;" his  heart  oppressed  and  broken  by  "the  care  of  all 
the  churches."  We  who  know  the  worth,  wisdom,  and 
devotedness  of  his  life,  are  apt  so  to  idealize  him,  that  we 
cannot  see  these  privations  in  their  literal  existence.  We 
associate  dignity  and  authority  with  the  great  preacher, 
and  cannot  picture  the  poor  pinched  stranger — insignificant, 
in  "  bodily  presence,"  weary  and  footsore,  ragged,  hungry 
and  shivering — coming  into  a  city  like  a  shiftless  vagabond 
who  had  spent  all;  and  was  in  want — the  livid  ring  on  his 


22  SAUL  AT  DAMASCUS. 

limbs  so  scantily  clad,  revealing  his  acquaintance  with  the 
stocks,  and  the  scar  of  the  whip  on  his  back  espied  through 
his  tattered  mantle  as  he  is  seeking  out  a  lodging  in  the 
meanest  streets,  where  dwelt  some  pious  Jews  or  proselytes 
amongst  "  the  offscourings  of  all  things."  There  he  lived 
and  fared,  and  thence  he  issued  to  preach  "  the  unsearch- 
able riches  of  Christ.''  And  this  was  usual  with  him. 
Luther  in  knight's  armour,  Calvin  in  the  garb  of  a  vine- 
dresser, Tyndale  in  a  blouse,  or  Bunyan  in  a  smock — these 
were  but  disguises  assumed  for  a  brief  period  to  escape 
peril,  but  the  apostle's  normal  state  was  one  of  privation 
and  suffering.  Never,  except  in  the  instance  of  his  Master, 
had  appearance  and  reality  been  in  such  contrast.  That 
mind  had  insight  little  less  in  clearness  or  in  reach  than 
that  of  "the  living  creatures  full  of  eyes."  That  heart 
had  more  than  man's  firmness,  and  more  than  woman's 
softness ;  and  that  life  was  devoted  to  his  species  with  an 
aim  that  never  wavered,  and  a  self-feeding  ardour  which 
was  never  damped,  and  which  could  not  be  extinguished 
save  in  the  blood  of  him  who  felt  and  cherished  it. 


II.— SAUL    AT    JEKUSALEM. 


ACTS  ix.  26-30 ;  xxii.  17-21.     GAL.  i.  18,  19. 

THE  humble  stratagem  by  which  Saul  had  escaped  those 
who  were  "  desirous  to  apprehend "  him,  was  neither  a 
matter  of  shame  to  the  inspired  historian  nor  to  the 
apostle  himself,  for  both  have  referred  to  it.  The  wit  of 
a  woman  had  done  a  similar  exploit  in  the  olden  time ; 
Eahab  let  the  spies  "  down  by  a  cord  through  the  window, 
for  her  house  was  upon  the  town  wall."  The  apostle 
tells  us  that  he  had  a  special  motive  in  going  at  this 
time  to  Jerusalem,  for  " he  went  up  to  see  Peter"  or  make 
his  acquaintance.  He  had  formed  this  intention,  but  the 
conspiracy  of  his  foes  hastened  his  departure,  and,  when 
the  basket  touched  the  ground,  he  did  not  make  for  some 
safe  and  obscure  retreat,  but  set  his  face  toward  the 
metropolis.  It  was  night.  It  was  in  blindness  that  he 
had  first  entered  Damascus — he  "  could  not  see  for  the 
glory  of  that  light " — and  now  he  is  forced  to  flee  from  it 
under  the  friendly  cover  of  darkness.  As  he  left  Damascus 
and  proceeded  to  Jerusalem,  he  could  not  pass  the  scene  of 
his  conversion  without  a  holy  shudder.  Every  turn  of  the 
road  during  these  hundred  and  twenty  miles,  must  have 
reminded  him  of  his  eastward  journey.  But  he  hurries 
westward  a  changed  man,  dead  to  his  former  self,  and  to  all 


24  SAUL  AT  JEHUSALEM. 

previous  impressions,  aspirations,  and  hopes.  And  lie  must 
have  sometimes  wondered  how  he  should  meet  the  zealots  of 
his  nation,  his  instigators  in  his  days  of  cruelty  and  igno- 
rance, and  he  must  also  have  surmised  how  they  would 
shrink  from  his  presence,  or  hurl  against  him  the  fierce 
curses  which  their  eloquent  fury  could  so  copiously  supply. 
But  he  was  too  brave  to  fear  human  opinion ;  he  had  "seen 
Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,"  and  heard  His  voice,  and  what 
cared  he  either  for  scowls  or  anathemas?  And  if  he  entered 
the  city  at  the  gate  by  which  he  had  left  it,  or  passed  the 
place  of  Stephen's  martyrdom,  his  soul  must  have  trembled 
in  its  gratitude  to  sovereign  mercy ;  for  all  such  past  things 
were  severed  by  a  great  gulf  from  his  present  being.  The 
bigot  had  become  a  Christian ;  the  persecutor  an  apostle. 
His  arrival  at  Jerusalem  must  have  created  as  much  doubt 
and  wonder  as  it  had  done  at  Antioch,  for  we  are  told  that 
"when  Saul  was  come  to  Jerusalem,  he  assayed  to  join  him- 
self to  the  disciples:  but  they  were  all  afraid  of  him,  and 
believed  not  that  he  was  a  disciple."  He  had  been  a  long 
time  away  from  them ;  first  rumours  had  subsided •  he 
had  been  absent,  too,  from  Damascus  for  a  season,  and 
tidings  did  not  then  travel  very  speedily  from  land  to  land. 
He  assayed  to  join  himself — made  several  earnest  but 
ineffectual  efforts.  He  did  not  attempt  to  take  them  by 
storm,  and  parade  the  glory  of  his  conversion  before  them. 
"  Less  than  the  least  of  all  saints,"  he  humbly  sought 
admission,  but  he  was  refused ;  his  veracity  was  ques- 
tioned— -"they  did  not  believe  that  he  was  a  disciple." 
Indeed  "  they  were  afraid  of  him ;"  they  deemed  him  to 
be  a  wolf  in  lamb's  clothing,  and  would  not  credit  him  that 


PETER   AND   PAUL.  25 

his  old  heart  was  gone,  and  that  he  was  a  Nazarene  who 
had  been  "  a  persecutor,  and  a  blasphemer,  and  injurious." 
Yes,  Saul  was  denied  Christian  fellowship — no  small  trial, 
in  his  present  condition,  for  one  who  had  done  and  suffered 
so  much  under  his  new  convictions.  His  discipleship, 
gained  by  such  a  miracle,  was  disallowed,  and,  as  he  had 
left  Damascus  in  haste,  he  had  brought  with  him  no  creden- 
tials. But  Barnabas  kindly  interfered  and  vouched  for  his 
sincerity,  telling  "  how  he  had  seen  the  Lord  in  the  way  " 
and  had  been  converted,  and  how  he  had  laboured  so  cour- 
ageously on  the  very  scene  of  his  intended  havoc.  Then 
was  he  admitted  to  fellowship,  and  "he  was  with  them 
coming  in  and  going  out  at  Jerusalem."  He  met  at  this 
time  with  only  two  of  the  apostles,  James  and  Peter,  and 
he  resided  with  Peter.  The  apostle  of  the  circumcision  and 
the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles  dwelt  for  "fifteen  days "  under 
one  roof.  What  conversations,  discussions,  and  projected 
enterprises  from  two  minds  so  unlike  in  structure  and  dis- 
cipline, and  yet  so  very  like  in  zeal  and  courage !  The  one 
flamed,  but  the  other  burned ;  the  one  was  fitful  and  for- 
ward, the  other  was  patient  and  uniform ;  the  one  was  a 
creature  of  impulse,  the  other  glowed  with  a  steady  enthu- 
siasm. Peter  loved  Palestine,  yet  Paul  loved  it  none  the 
less  that  his  heart  embraced  the  world.  The  former  felt 
at  home  in  the  sphere  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  other 
stretched  beyond  it  while  he  did  not  forsake  it.  To  the 
one,  a  Gentile  was  a  man  to  be  converted ;  to  the  other,  a 
brother  also  to  be  won.  Peter  did  what  he  knew  to  be  his 
duty  in  repairing  to  the  house  of  Cornelius,  but  he  did  not 
feel  at  perfect  liberty  to  repeat  such  deeds;  while  the 

^•^^•-fe 

Of  TBGR 


26  SAUL  AT  JERUSALEM. 

untrammelled  Paul  exclaims — "  Inasmuch  as  I  am  the 
apostle  of  the  Gentiles  I  magnify  mine  office."  In  a 
word,  Peter  was  like  the  Jordan,  the  stream  that  belonged 
exclusively  to  his  fatherland,  though  a  foreigner,  like 
Naaman,  might  once  in  its  history  wash  and  be  healed  in 
it;  but  Paul  resembled  the  "great  sea,"  which  washes  the 
shores  of  the  three  large  continents. 

Saul  stayed  only  a  fortnight  in  Jerusalem,  but  he  was 
not  and  could  not  be  idle.  It  is  said  of  him  briefly  and 
emphatically,  that  "  he  spake  boldly  in  the  name  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  and  disputed  against  the  Grecians :  but 
they  went  about  to  slay  him."  Four  features  of  his 
preaching  come  into  view — 

1.  The  class  to  whom  he  addressed  himself  were  the 
Grecians  or  Hellenists,  that  is,  Jews,  but,  like  himself,  born 
out  of  Palestine;  Jews  like  Stephen,  whom  he  had  con- 
fronted in  the  Hellenistic  synagogue,  and  to  whose  death 
he  had  "consented."  He  was  most  naturally  drawn  to 
them.  The  Jews  born  in  Juda3a  were  victims  of  narrow- 
ness and  prejudice ;  the  "  genius  of  the  place  "  overawed 
them,  and  held  them  in  bondage.  But  the  Hellenists  born 
and  brought  up  in  other  countries  were  less  liable  to  these 
strong  opinions,  for  they  had  mingled  with  other  races,  and 
their  minds  were  expanded  with  literary  and  commercial 
intercourse.  As  one  of  them,  Saul  specially  appealed 
to  them,  in  the  hope  that,  as  he  understood  them  and 
might  expect  them  to  sympathize  with  him,  he  might 
win  them  over  to  the  gospel.  For,  there  are  certain  ties  of 
blood,  education,  and  language  which  are  to  be  recognized 
even  in  the  advocacy  of  the  truth,  and  which  it  would  be 


HELLENISM.  27 

wrong  in  a  public  advocate  or  orator  to  overlook.  Saul, 
therefore,  "in  the  meekness  of  wisdom,"  laboured  in 
a  sphere  where  he  imagined  that  he  had  most  hopes 
of  success.  He  did  not  fling  the  gospel  in  the  face  of 
the  high  priest,  did  not  go  to  the  temple  and  harangue 
the  fanatical  crowds,  but  prudently  and  earnestly  he 
brought  to  bear  upon  the  Hellenists  the  result  of  his 
training  and  experience  in  Damascus.  "  One  of  your- 
selves presents  himself  to  you" — might  be  his  preface 
as  he  began  in  the  Greek  tongue,  more  familiar  to  them 
than  Hebrew,  to  advance  and  maintain  the  claims  of 
Jesus  as  Messiah.  Saul,  therefore,  as  a  preacher,  was 
no  unreasoning  fanatic,  unable  to  hold  his  tongue  or 
control  his  temper;  no  agitator,  reckless  as  to  circum- 
stances, and  anxious  only  to  obtrude  his  views,  deeming 
still  that  he  was  doing  his  duty,  though  he  only  pro- 
voked without  convincing,  and  excited  dislike  to  himself 
and  antipathy  to  his  cause.  He  was  indeed  a  man  of  one 
idea — the  Messiahship — and  that  idea  filled  him ;  but  it 
was  not  with  him  as  with  many  men  of  one  idea ;  it  did 
not  so  overmaster  him  that  he  knew  not  when,  how,  and 
where  to  develope  it.  He  might  fail  with  the  majority  he 
spoke  to,  but  his  labours  could  not  be  wholly  without  fruit. 
2.  His  preaching  took  the  form  of  disputation.  He  spoke 
and  disputed  against  the  Grecians ;  for  it  was  no  studied 
oration  which  he  had  prepared  and  was  able  to  deliver 
with  fluency  and  power,  but,  during  its  recitation,  would 
neither  bear  with  interruption  nor  be  annoyed  with  any 
impertinent  questions  or  exclamations.  He  did  not  come 
forth  simply  with  a  "set  speech,"  keen,  argumentative, 


28  SAUL  AT  JERUSALEM. 

and  weighty;  but  after  he  spoke  he  allowed  the  free 
criticism  of  all  his  statements.  He  did  not  feel  insulted 
when  his  conclusions  were  denied,  and  his  interpreta- 
tions were  tossed  aside.  He  met  his  opponents  openly 
and  fully,  prepared  to  reply  to  their  questions  and  to 
respond  to  their  challenge.  He  was  not  afraid  of  close 
grappling,  nor  did  he  endeavour  to  elude  the  force  of  any 
objections  or  inferences  that  might  be  brought  against  him. 
The  scene,  though  it  began  with  preaching,  became  one 
of  discussion,  and  Saul  did  not  shrink  from  it,  either  as 
beneath  his  dignity  or  as  unworthy  of  his  commission. 
There  would  be  in  his  audience  some  that  sneered  and 
some  that  scowled — some  that  simply  liked  a  display  of 
gladiatorial  skill,  others  that  were  honestly  seeking  after 
righteousness.  Each  as  he  arraigned  the  sermon  would 
get  his  answer  as  he  merited  —  the  preacher  never  off 
his  guard  or  losing  his  temper  at  the  folly  or  obstinacy 
which  wrested  his  words,  and  never  reduced  to  hide  the 
weakness  or  inaptness  of  a  reply  by  the  sarcasm  or 
bitterness  of  a  personal  retort.  One  opponent  might 
question  his  interpretation  of  a  portion  of  the  law  or 
the  prophets,  and  try  to  set  aside  its  reference  to  the 
Messiah ;  or  another  would  affirm  some  base  thing  about 
our  Lord's  life,  or  some  stupid  and  malignant  thing 
about  his  religion,  while  to  the  one  and  the  other  Saul 
would  speak  with  loving  soul,  reasoning  out  the  validity 
of  his  interpretation  from  the  words  or  connection  of  the 
paragraph,  and  teaching  the  truth  as  to  the  facts  of  the 
Master's  career  and  the  nature  and  purposes  of  his  atoning 
death.  And  though  another  disputant,  with  a  leer  and  a 


FEARLESSNESS.  29 

frown,  should  refer  to  his  conversion,  so  strange  and  unex- 
pected, the  allusion  could  neither  shame  nor  intimidate 
one  who  "  had  seen  that  Just  One,  and  heard  the  voice  of 
His  mouth."  Merely  to  silence  and  subdue  them,  and  to 
gain  an  intellectual  mastery  over  them,  was  no  part  of  his 
aim;  he  loved  them  while  he  prostrated  them,  and  his 
heart  bled  for  them  while  he  showed  them  the  sophistry 
which  entangled  or  the  darkness  which  enveloped  them. 
3.  His  preaching  was  bold,  for  his  convictions  were 
thorough,  and  he  uttered  them  without  hesitation  or  fear. 
He  was  a  stranger  to  faintheartedness.  He  believed, 
therefore  he  spake.  Had  he  felt  any  secret  doubts  or 
misgivings  ;  had  the  scene  of  his  conversion  recurred  as 
some  illusive  phenomenon  ,•  had  there  been  any  suspicions 
within  him  that  possibly  after  all  he  might  be  in  error — 
then  his  preaching  might  have  been  timid  and  faltering. 
But  Saul's  mind  could  not  admit  the  possibility  of  a 
doubt;  as  soon  should  he  question  his  own  existence  as 
question  that  Jesus  in  glory  had  named  him  and  spoken 
to  him.  It  was  no  hallucination,  for  it  was  at  midday  that 
the  voice  had  arrested  him.  The  "  light  above  the  bright- 
ness of  the  sun "  had  blinded  him,  and  some  time  had 
elapsed  before  he  had  recovered  his  vision — nay,  probably 
at  that  moment  he  was  labouring  under  defective  eyesight. 
So  assured  and  fortified,  he  could  neither  be  reasoned  nor 
terrified  out  of  his  belief.  And  the  glorified  Jesus  being  his 
shield,  he  was  not  alarmed  at.  "  what  man  shall  do.'7  The 
want  of  the  age  was  the  proclamation  of  the  Messiahship, 
and  Saul  set  himself  bravely  to  the  work — as  in  Damascus 
so  in  Jerusalem.  He  could  not  modify,  and  he  would  not 


30  SAUL  AT  JERUSALEM. 

recant.  Pressed  on  every  side  by  the  Grecians,  while 
order  and  decorum  were  occasionally  broken  in  upon  by 
the  "  strife  of  tongues,"  he  was  unmoved — impervious  alike 
to  execration  and  ridicule — a  mighty  man  of  valour — a 
spiritual  hero  clad  in  "the  whole  armour  of  God." 

4.  And  he  was  bold  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  that 
is,  he  not  only  preached  Christ,  but  he  claimed  His  express 
authority  for  so  preaching  Him.  Christ  had  not  only 
seized  him  and  yoked  him  to  the  work,  but  commissioned 
him  to  do  it.  Whether,  then,  he  looked  to  the  authority 
under  which  he  acted,  or  the  momentous  nature  of  the 
lessons  proclaimed  by  him,  or  the  pressing  wants  of  men 
around  him,  he  could  not  but  be  bold.  Timidity  would 
be  treachery  to  his  Master,  cruelty  to  the  world,  and 
unfaithfulness  to  his  own  convictions.  And  all  this  brave 
outspokenness  so  early  in  his  career,  ere  yet  he  had  been 
taught  to  "  endure  hardness,"  was  not  the  arrogance  of  a 
"  novice,"  but  the  courage  which  one  feels  who  has 
resolved  at  all  hazards  to  be  true  to  his  beliefs,  who  has 
vowed  fidelity  both  to  God  and  to  man,  and  who  is  sup- 
ported by  the  grace  which  never  fails  in  its  sufficiency, 
and  the  strength  which  perfects  itself  in  weakness. 

That  Saul's  appearance  should  impress  some  needs  not 
be  doubted,  but  the  multitude  refused  to  believe.  Nay,  in 
their  vengeful  excitement  they  went  about  to  slay  him — tried 
various  and  repeated  plans,  but  failed.  His  short  sojourn 
had  roused  their  passionate  resentment,  and  they  could  not 
bear  that  he  of  all  men  should  so  boldly  defy  and  con- 
found them.  In  the  meantime  he  had  enjoyed  a  remark- 
able vision,  which  long"  afterwards  he  described  to  the 


THE  MASTER'S  ORDERS.  31 

Jewish  mob.  In  Jerusalem,  in  the  temple,  and  when  he 
was  engaged  in  devotion,  he  fell  into  an  ecstacy ;  the 
operation  of  sense  being  suspended,  his  higher  spiritual 
nature  was  brought  again  into  direct  personal  communica- 
tion with  Christ ;  so  that  he  "  saw  Him,"  and  heard  Him 
utter  these  words — "  Make  haste,  and  get  thee  quickly  out 
of  Jerusalem,  for  they  will  not  receive  thy  testimony  con- 
cerning Me."  As  Saul  had  been  only  two  weeks  there,  he 
wished  to  remain  a  little  longer,  and,  probably  with  the 
advice  of  Peter,  thought  of  selecting  Jerusalem  as  a  field  of 
labour.  It  may  have  been  one  of  the  great  feasts,  and  there 
might  be  in  Jerusalem  "  Jews  and  proselytes  from  every 
nation  under  heaven."  Another  scene  like  Pentecost  might 
be  anticipated,  and  Peter  might  be  hoping  much  from  the 
ardour,  erudition,  and  eloquence  of  his  junior  colleague ; 
"  James,  the  Lord's  brother,"  being  the  only  other  apostle 
resident  at  the  time  in  the  city.  Man  proposes,  but 
God  disposes.  Saul  was  at  once  ordered  off  the  scene; 
for  so  long  as  he  was  there,  he  was  out  of  the  sphere  which 
the  Master  intended  for  him.  The  outfield  of  heathenism 
was  his  place,  and  he  was  not  to  spend  precious  time 
among  Hellenistic  Jews  in  Jerusalem,  since  he  would  meet 
them  in  every  city  in  the  Gentile  world,  as  he  went 
about  among  the  uncircumcised  races.  But  as  Saul  did 
nothing  without  a  reason,  he  honestly  tells  the  Lord  why 
he  had  come  to  labour  in  Jerusalem.  He  gives  his  own 
view  thus:  "I  said,  Lord,  they  know  that  I  imprisoned 
and  beat  in  every  synagogue  them  that  believed  on  thee : 
and  when  the  blood  of  thy  martyr  Stephen  was  shed,  I 
also  was  standing  by,  and  consenting  unto  his  death,  and 


32  SAUL  AT  JERUSALEM. 

kept  the  raiment  of  them  that  slew  him."  The  ground 
taken  by  Saul  is  very  intelligible.  The  population  of 
Jerusalem  had  known  what  he  was,  and  he  wished  them 
to  know  what  he  had  become.  They  could  not  but  inquire 
into  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  change  which  had  come 
over  him,  and  they  could  not  doubt  the  honesty  of  one 
who  by  that  change  had  so  fully  renounced  all  which  the 
world  covets — all  the  objects,  indeed,  of  his  own  youthful 
ambition.  Nay,  he  had  been  so  furious  that  he  beat  the 
Christians  savagely,  or  flayed  them,  as  the  word  means ; 
and  at  the  martyrdom  of  Stephen  he  himself  was  standing 
over  the  scene,  approving  of  the  deed,  and  guarding  the 
robes  of  them  who  acted  the  bloody  part  of  executioners  and 
dispatched  the  protomartyr.  Therefore  he  thought,  that 
on  the  spot  where  such  points  were  notorious,  and  where 
he  had  been  a  ringleader  in  a  fanatical  murder,  he  had  a 
special  claim  to  be  heard  against  himself  and  in  favour  of 
that  system  which  he  had  adopted  from  the  best  of  all 
reasons — autoptic  evidence,  the  appearance  and  glory  of 
the  exalted  Jesus.  They  could  not  imagine  that  he  had 
been  duped,  for  they  were  aware  of  his  mental  acuteness 
and  vigour.  Neither  could  they  think  that  one  of  his  aus- 
tere honesty  and  straightforward  disposition  could  deceive 
others  •  nor  yet  could  they  suppose  that  he  had  lightly  or 
recklessly  abandoned  that  faith  for  which  he  had  so  gal- 
lantly struggled.  But  his  excuse  is  not  even  replied  to  by 
the  Master.  The  only  response  to  his  argument  is — 
"  Depart,  for  I  will  send  thee  far  hence  unto  the  Gentiles  " 
— a  distinct  and  peremptory  intimation  that  admitted 
neither  of  hesitation  nor  delay.  Begone — the  order  of 


THE   EIGHT  MAN   IN   THE  EIGHT  PLACE.  33 

high  authority — the  majestic  token  of  divine  prerogative. 
Thus  in  Jerusalem,  and  in  the  temple,  the  very  centre  and 
citadel  of  Judaism,  did  he  receive  his  express  commis- 
sion to  be  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles.  So  commanded  by 
Jesus,  and  so  advised,  at  the  same  time,  of  danger  by  the 
brethren,  Saul  left  Jerusalem,  was  •"  brought  down  "  to 
Coasarea,  "came  into  the  regions  of  Syria  and  Cilicia,"  and 
arrived  at  Tarsus.  Three  years  had  elapsed  since  he  had 
"been  commissioned  to  the  Gentiles  by  divine  authority, 
and  still  he  was  reluctant  to  undertake  the  task  for  which 
his  education  and  temperament  so  well  fitted  him.  Moses, 
when  summoned  to  go  to  Egypt  and  confront  Pharaoh, 
pleaded  want  of  eloquence ;  Gideon  would  not  march  till 
the  fleece  had  been  wetted,  nay,  till  the  omen  had  been 
reversed ;  Jeremiah  urged  his  youth  and  inexperience  when 
called  to  the  prophetic  office ;  Jonah  set  sail  for  Tarshish, 
instead  of  proceeding  to  Nineveh ;  Ananias,  when  bidden 
to  seek  out  a  stranger  who  had  recently  arrived  at  Damas- 
cus, demurred  and  said,  "Lord,  I  have  heard  by  many 
of  this  man  how  much  evil  he  hath  done  to  thy  saints 
at  Jerusalem  5"  and  Saul,  thinking  himself  possessed  of 
special  qualifications  for  a  sphere  of  labour  which  he  pre- 
ferred, was  backward  toward  that  very  work  for  which  he 
had  been  born  and  called,  and  in  which  he  so  soon  achieved 
signal  success,  and  won  imperishable  renown.  "Who 
art  thou,  0  man,  that  repliest  against  God?"  "  The  right 
man  in  the  right  place,"  has  become  a  popular  expression 
for  mutual  adaptation.  Saul  did  not  verify  the  saying 
either  in  Damascus  or  Jerusalem,  but  it  might  be  truly 
predicated  of  him  through  his  whole  subsequent  career, 

c 


34  SAUL  AT  JERUSALEM. 

when  he  spoke,  travelled,  toiled,  and  suffered,  as  one 
"  appointed  a  preacher,  and  an  apostle,  and  a  teacher  of  the 
Gentiles  in  faith  and  verity." 

Strange  realms,  wide  waters  o'er, 

The  conquering  Cross  he  bore ; 
In  her  own  Isle  the  Love  Queen  he  abash'd ; 

Through  Asian  cities  bright 

He  poured  the  sweet  strange  light; 
Diana  in  her  Ephesus  he  dashed. 

Greece  glowed  beneath  his  golden  tongue; 
Full  in  Athenian  ears  their  Unknown  God  he  rung. 

Each  rich  Corinthian  shrine 

Grew  dim  and  undivine, 
Philippi  heard  the  captor- captive's  song ; 

0 !  ne'er  from  Grecian  soul 

Such  golden  streams  did  roll ; 
No  Roman  hand  e'er  smote,  e'er  built  so  strong. 

Temples  fell  down  where'er  he  trod, 
And  on  from  land  to  land  stretched  the  one  Church  of  God. 

O  bearer  of  all  shame  ! 

O  Earth's  most  glorious  name ! 
0  weakling,  by  whom  mightiest  deeds  were  done ! 

0  prisoner,  whose  firm  stroke 

Ten  thousand  fetters  broke ! 
0  outcast,  by  whose  word  the  world  was  won ; 

0  bruised  one,  whose  cheer  ran  o'ei 
To  make  divinely  glad  all  souls  for  evermore! 


III.— SAUL  AT  ANTIOCH  IN  SYRIA. 


ACTS  xi.  22-26. 

THREATENED  assassination  and  divine  command  had  sent 
Saul  out  of  Jerusalem,  and  he  went  home  to  Tarsus.  In 
that  city,  under  the  shadow  of  Mount  Taurus,  he  might 
again  recreate  himself  with  Hellenic  studies;  and  by 
intercourse  with  the  philosophers  who  paced  the  gym- 
nasium by  the  green  banks  of  the  cold  and  rapid  Cydnus, 
he  might  learn  what  trains  of  thought  were  best  adapted 
to  work  on  the  hearts  of  those  who  were  te  aliens  from  the 
commonwealth  of  Israel."  The  time  was  not  lost,  the 
apostle  could  not  be  idle — it  was  a  season  either  of  busy 
preparation,  or  of  active  missionary  duty.  He  had  hitherto 
come  into  conflict  only  with  his  own  countrymen,  whose 
prejudices  he  could  instinctively  comprehend,  for  he  read 
them  in  his  own  past  life.  But  he  had  been  warned  that 
another  and  very  different  field  was  to  be  occupied  by  him, 
and  for  which  it  behoved  him,  by  every  form  of  human 
discipline,  to  equip  himself.  Experiments  upon  the  gentile 
population  at  Tarsus,  either  conducted  by  dialogue  or  more 
formal  addresses,  must  have  shown  him  how  he  could  best 
serve  the  Master  in  making  known  His  salvation  to  the 
pagan  world.  Though  Saul  was  taught  of  the  Spirit,  he 
was  also  the  pupil  of  experience ;  and  what  he  saw  and 
heard  in  his  native  province,  either  in  its  hilly  regions  or 


36  SAUL  AT  ANTIOCH   IN   SYRIA. 

level  shores — the  feelings  he  encountered,  the  forms  of 
antagonism  he  met  with,  the  prevailing  type  of  objection 
which  the  educated  or  uneducated  heathen  mind,  Greek, 
Roman,  and  aboriginal,  presented — must  have  been  studied 
by  him,  and  must  have  afforded  guidance  in  his  subse- 
quent evangelical  labours.  He  could  afterwards  anticipate 
hostile  argument — trace  its  origin,  detect  its  fallacy,  ay, 
and  counterwork  it,  ere  it  had  time  to  express  itself. 

In  the  meantime,  the  gospel  had  been  carried  to  different 
regions  by  those  who  had  fled  into  exile  after  the 
martyrdom  of  Stephen.  The  blood  of  the  martyr  had 
already  become  the  seed  of  the  church.  They  who  sped 
away  for  life  carried  with  them  the  elements  of  a  higher  life. 
The  first  persecution  of  the  church  led  to  its  first  mission- 
ary enterprise.  The  death  of  Stephen  occasioned  obedience 
to  the  parting  command  of  the  Master — "  Go  ye  into  all 
the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature."  Not 
a  few  who  "were  scattered  abroad,"  being  probably  Jews 
born  in  Palestine,  "  preached  the  word  to  none  but  unto  the 
Jews  only."  But "  men  of  Cyprus  and  Gyrene  "  had  gone  as 
far  as  Antioch,  and  their  preaching  "  to  the  Grecians  "  had 
been  attended  with  signal  success.  The  inspired  historian 
tells  us  that  "  the  hand  of  the  Lord  was  with  them  "—the 
power  of  Him  who  was  upon  the  throne  was  sent  down  to 
crown  and  bless  their  labours.  Throughout  the  Acts  the 
primary  agency  of  the  Lord  Jesus  is  uniformly  recognized. 
What  Christ  did  when  among  men,  is  told  in  the  Gospels ; 
what  He  still  did  when  removed  from  men,  is  told  in  the 
Acts.  How  He  governed  when  present,  is  described  in  the 
one  group  of  narratives ;  how  He  governs  when  absent,  is 


BARNABAS  A  DEPUTY.  37 

rehearsed  in  this  book.  The  Christ  of  the  Gospels  is  a 
present  and  tender  friend — the  Christ  of  the  Acts  still 
preserves  the  same  character  ;  is  near,  though  He  is  away ; 
loves,  though  He  has  left ;  and  guides  and  controls,  though 
the  heavens  retain  Him.  The  scenes  of  this  history,  in 
which  apostles  preached,  wrought  miracles,  or  suffered, 
belong  to  Christ  as  really  as  the  synagogue  at  Nazareth 
where  He  was  rejected,  the  shores  of  Gennesaret  where 
He  wandered  and  strewed  deeds  of  mercy  on  His  path, 
the  hamlet  of  Bethany  where  He  enjoyed 'His  friends,  or 
the  garden  of  Gethsemane  where  He  met  His  agony. 

News  of  the  immense  success  of  the  gospel  at  Antioch 
had  reached  Jerusalem.  The  mother-church  might  not 
claim  a  formal  jurisdiction,  but  it  was  startled  and  per- 
plexed, as  well  as  delighted,  by  the  intelligence.  If  the 
heathen  were  admitted,  it  should  like  to  know  on  what 
conditions,  and  by  what  authority?  The  zealots  for  the 
law  desired  to  interfere,  for  they  afterwards  called  Peter 
to  account,  and  "  contended "  with  him,  because  he  had 
eaten  with  the  uncircumcised.  When  the  great  results  of 
Philip's  preaching  were  known  at  Jerusalem,  Peter  and 
John  were  sent  down  to  Samaria  5  and  so  Barnabas  was 
commissioned  as  a  deputy  to  the  northern  city,  to  ascer- 
tain from  inspection  how  far  the  tidings  were  correct  and 
what  farther  information  might  be  gathered:  and  he  cheer- 
fully undertook  the  embassy.  He  must  have  been  high  in 
the  confidence  of  the  church  in  Jerusalem,  for  we  have 
seen,  too,  that  his  introduction  was  the  voucher  of  Saul's 
discipleship. 

The  benevolent  and  self-denied  Cypriot  came  to  Antioch, 


38  SAUL  AT  ANTIOCH  IN   SYRIA. 

and  his  mind,  if  it  had  been  in  any  doubt,  was  at  once 
relieved.  There  was  neither  disorder  nor  unwarranted 
innovation.  When  he  had  "  seen  the  grace  of  God,  he 
was  glad."  Every  feeling  of  embarrassment  left  him. 
The  noble  spectacle  filled  his  mind  with  unutterable 
gladness.  He  saw  the  grace  of  God;  that  is,  overlooking 
the  minor  means  and  subordinate  instrumentalities,  he 
detected  the  workings  of  divine  power.  For  whatever 
eloquence,  zeal,  and  courage  had  been  employed,  God's 
grace  had  effected  the  change,  as  it  alone  reaches  and 
renews  the  heart.  The  gospel  is  an  embodiment  of  His 
grace,  and  they  who  believe  the  gospel,  get  that  grace  for 
their  heritage.  When  Barnabas  looked  around  on  so 
many  converts,  and  knew  what  their  convictions  were ; 
when  he  saw  the  synagogue  forsaken  and  the  groves  of 
Daphne  deserted ;  when  he  beheld  the  sanctified  intelli- 
gence and  changed  lives  of  the  Christian  multitudes — he 
could  ascribe  the  phenomenon  to  nothing  but  the  grace  of 
God.  It  is  true  that  the  inner  workings  of  grace  are 
invisible,  and  that  Barnabas  could  not  see  into  the  heart ; 
but  with  the  results  before  him,  he  at  once  recognized  the 
cause.  There  was  indeed  no  opening  of  the  heavens — no 
"rushing  mighty  wind" — no  "cloven  tongues,  like  as  of 
fire" — no  scene  of  palpable  visitation,  such  as  at  Pentecost ; 
but  the  effect  was  not  the  less  striking  in  the  faith  and 
devotedness,  the  purity  and  unity,  of  the  Antiochean 
church.  Were  the  grace  of  God  implored,  would  it  not 
still  descend,  reviving  the  church,  and  conquering  the 
world  ?  The  exalted  Lord  will  not  deny  it — He  will  bow 
His  heaven,  and  pour  it  down  in  rich  effusion.  Lord,  let 


POWER  OF  GRACE.  39 

Thy  grace  come  down  in  its  majesty,  so  that  Thy  saints 
may  rejoice  in  it,  and  that  sinners  may  feel  its  sweep. 
Let  the  means  of  grace  verify  their  name  as  vehicles  of 
divine  and  saving  influence.  Lead  sinners  to  Thy  "  throne 
of  grace."  Give  "  testimony  to  the  word  of  Thy  grace  5" 
and  bestow  upon  us  "  grace  for  grace,"  as  Thou  showest 
the  "riches"  of  Thy  grace.  Help  us  who  "believe  through 
grace,"  by  enabling  us  not  only  to  "  continue  in  the  grace 
of  God,"  but  to  "  grow  in  grace."  Make  "  all  grace  to 
abound  toward  us  ;"  yea,  let  "  great  grace  be  upon  us  all." 
When  Barnabas  saw  the  spectacle,  he  sympathized  with 
it.  Earth  had  nothing  for  him  so  rich  in  pleasure.  The 
power  in  gracious  operation  was  divine ;  the  subjects 
wrought  upon  were  the  noblest  —  the  souls  of  men — 
precious  beyond  computation ;  and  the  results,  partially 
gained,  and  to  be  in  the  end  fully  realized,  were  the  loftiest 
and  best  that  God  can  achieve,  or  man  can  experience. 
Barnabas  could  look  on  neither  with  indifference  nor 
envy.  He  rejoiced,  for  he  saw  the  cause  of  Christ  so 
prosperous  after  the  dark  season  of  persecution,  and,  after  it 
had  bled  at  Jerusalem,  achieving  such  conquests  in  one 
of  the  prime  strongholds  of  Eastern  heathendom.  That 
cause  was  endeared  the  more  to  them  who  had  suffered 
for  it ;  and  while  it  lay  at  home  under  the  frown  of  the 
priesthood  and  the  ban  of  the  Sanhedrim,  it  was  rapidly 
and  surely,  and  without  molestation,  planting  and  spread- 
ing itself  in  so  renowned  a  spot  as  the  third  city  of  the 
empire.  When  the  deputy  of  the  metropolitan  church 
had  reflected  on  these  circumstances,  we  may  imagine 
what  a  glowing  despatch  he  would  transmit  to  Jerusalem. 


40  SAUL  AT  ANTIOCH  IN  SYRIA. 

But  Barnabas  felt  that  there  was  duty  laid  upon  him.  He 
was  not  only  to  report  to  the  mother-church,  but  immediate 
obligation  also  pressed  upon  him.  He  must  improve  the 
opportunity,  and  preach ;  and  the  burden  of  his  preaching 
was  the  duty  or  necessity  of  perseverance.  "  He  exhorted 
them  all,  that  with  purpose  of  heart  they  would  cleave 
unto  the  Lord."  This  was  the  one  grand  lesson  for  the 
time.  He  might  be  afraid  that  this  outburst  of  enthusiasm 
might  not  last,  that  among  a  giddy  and  susceptible  people 
such  novel  sensations  might  speedily  subside.  Therefore 
he  addressed  himself  to  the  one  remedy.  For  continuous 
faith  alone  is  continuous  safety.  One  must  not  only  flee 
to  the  refuge,  but  abide  in  it,  that  he  may  escape  the 
storm.  The  race  must  not  only  be  begun,  but  the  racer 
must  hold  on,  for  he  must  grasp  the  goal  ere  he  get  the 
garland.  And  the  resolution  to  persevere  was  not  to  be 
taken  laxly  and  vaguely,  but  with  "purpose  of  heart  "- 
with  intelligent  and  cordial  resolve.  There  needed  such 
decision  among  the  Gentiles.  Society  was  pervaded  with 
idolatrous  usages,  and  the  ordinary  interchange  of  civilities 
was  tainted  with  them.  The  heathen  was  reminded  at 
every  step  of  the  religion  which  he  had  left — its  altars, 
temples,  and  gods  were  on  all  hands.  If  he  partook  of  a 
friend's  hospitality,  he  would  witness  a  libation  poured 
out  to  Apollo;  meats  blessed  in  honour  of  an  idol  were 
found  on  every  table ;  while  urban  pursuits  and  suburban 
recreation  brought  him  into  contact  with  objects  and  scenes 
of  superstition  and  sensual  indulgence.  Nor  was  the  Jew 
less  powerfully  surrounded  with  seductions.  Hallowed 
associations  mixed  with  all  his  memories  of  ancestral  glory 


A   GOOD   MAN.  41 

and  worship.  Great  names  were  inwoven  into  the  history 
of  his  ceremonial,  and  the  archives  of  his  country  were,  at 
the  same  time,  the  records  of  his  faith.  God  had  spoken 
to  his  fathers ;  the  sea  had  been  divided  for  them  ;  angels' 
food  had  been,  day  after  day,  rained  down  upon  them ;  the 
cloud  and  pillar  oi  fire  had  been  by  turns  the  vanguard  and 
rearguard  of  their  march.  They  had  possessed  the  rod  of 
Moses  and  the  sword  of  Joshua,  the  throne  of  David  and 
the  lyre  of  Isaiah.  What  Barnabas  therefore  impressed  on 
the  whole  assembly  was  earnestness  and  tenacity,  or  reso- 
lution, at  all  hazards,  to  cleave  to  the  Lord.  What  beauty 
and  power  in  the  thought — to  cleave  to  the  Lord;  not  simply 
to  cling  to  their  profession,  or  to  adhere  to  an  abstract  or 
historical  Christianity,  but  to  cleave  to  the  Lord — the  living 
personal  Redeemer — away  from  them,  but  yet  with  them — 
the  one  living  source  of  blessing  and  object  of  fellowship. 
Theirs  was  to  be  a  personal  attachment  to  Him  whom  the 
gospel  depicted  as  the  centre  of  evangelical  truth  and  the 
occupant  of  their  hearts — Him  to  whom  homage  was  paid 
as  being  of  all  others  the  most  worthy  of  it,  and  to  whom 
service  was  done  as  having  a  claim  beyond  all  others  upon 
it.  For,  alas !  men  may  adhere  to  a  denomination  or  to 
visible  membership,  and  yet  fall  short  of  cleaving  to  the 
Lord.  What  folly — lingering  by  the  fountain  without 
tasting  of  its  rill ;  lounging  in  the  porches  of  Bethesda, 
but  careless  of  the  troubling  of  the  waters ! 

One  needs  not  to  be  surprised  either  at  the  joy  of 
Barnabas,  or  the  practical  course  he  pursued,  when  an 
insight  is  gained  into  his  character.  The  historian  adds — 
He  was  a  "  good  man."  A  noble  eulogy,  though  a  brief 


42  SAUL  AT  ANTIOCH   IN  SYRIA. 

and  uncommon  one.  The  ordinary  panegyric  is  a  "  great 
man,"  but  the  greatness  of  Barnabas  was  his  goodness. 
His  goodness  had  been  already  seen  in  his  sale  of  his 
possession,  when  the  first  Christians  kept  free  table  in 
Jerusalem.  The  vulgar  strife  is  to  be  great,  but  the 
Christian's  ambition  is  to  be  good.  Few  can  achieve  great- 
ness, but  goodness  is  within  the  reach  of  all.  Not  to  be 
first,  but  to  be  best — be  this  our  heart's  desire,  for  he  who 
is  best  on  earth  shall  be  "  greatest  in  the  kingdom  of 
heaven."  The  source  of  the  goodness  of  Barnabas  is  laid 
open — "  he  was  full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  faith." 
Full  of  the  Holy  Ghost — so  filled  probably  at  Pentecost — 
not  visited  with  occasional  impulses,  but  like  a  vessel 
replete  to  overflowing.  No  wonder  that  Joses  of  Cyprus 
was  surnamed  tl  the  Son  of  consolation."  If  he  was  so 
filled  with  the  spirit  of  the  promised  Comforter,  then 
surely  words  of  consolation  must  have  flowed  from  his  lips. 
"  Full  of  faith  "  was  this  companion  of  the  apostles,  and 
therefore  full  of  the  Spirit.  A  calm  and  uniform  confidence 
possessed  his  soul,  gave  him  the  image  of  his  Master, 
and  won  him  his  surname.  When  Stephen  was  stoned, 
and  young  Saul  perpetrated  these  enormities,  some  of  the 
brethren  might  wring  their  hands  in  dismay,  and  cry  out 
in  bitter  lamentation,  that  it  was  all  over  with  their  cause 
— that  the  morning  had  been  overcast,  and  the  sun  would 
never  again  shine  through  ;  but  the  faith  of  Barnabas, 
lifting  him  above  such  despondency,  and  fixing  the 
assurance  in  his  heart  that  Christ  would  ultimately 
triumph,  enabled  him  to  lift  up  "  the  hands  which  hang 
down,  and  the  feeble  knees,"  and  so  become  in  many  ways 


BARNABAS  AND   SAUL.  43 

and  at  many  times  a  "  Son  of  consolation."  The  labours 
of  Barnabas  were  greatly  blessed,  and  "  much  people  was 
added  to  the  Lord  " — not  simply  to  the  church,  but  to  the 
Lord — first  to  the  Lord,  and  afterwards  to  the  church,  "  by 
the  will  of  God.'7 

But  Barnabas  felt  the  work  growing  upon  his  hands. 
Unaided  and  alone,  he  was  not  a  match  for  the  crisis.  He 
longed  that  during  the  bright  hour  the  harvest  should  be 
gathered.  He  had  none  of  that  littleness  of  mind  which, 
in  order  to  monopolize  the  praise,  could  not  bear  the 
presence  and  labours  of  a  rival,  and  he  took  a  step  which 
immediately  brought  him  into  a  secondary  position.  He 
who  had  introduced  Saul  to  the  church  at  Jerusalem,  and 
been  his  good  genius,  soon  became  his  subordinate  col- 
league, and  is  overshadowed  by  the  greater  soul,  as 
Melancthon  by  Luther,  and  Beza  by  Calvin.  The  Holy 
Ghost  says  once  "Barnabas  and  Saul;"  but  soon  the  order  is 
reversed,  and  it  is  afterwards  "  Paul  and  Barnabas."  Feel- 
ing that  Saul  was  quite  the  man  for  the  occasion,  Barnabas 
left  Antioch  in  quest  of  him.  He  had  gone  from  Jerusalem 
to  Tarsus,  and  thither  Barnabas  went  in  search  of  him. 
Barnabas  must  have  known  him  somewhat  intimately,  and 
it  may  be  had  been  associated  with  him  in  academic  study. 
Saul  may  have  been  absent  from  Tarsus,  labouring  in 
some  quarter  of  the  province  of  Cilicia,  but  Barnabas  at 
length  found  him — pointed  out  this  sphere  of  labour  as  one 
specially  adapted  to  him ;  and  Saul  consented,  and  accom- 
panied his  patron  to  Antioch.  The  eager  spirit  of  Saul 
would  need  no  urgent  solicitation.  It  would  spring  to  the 
scene  in  anticipation  of  earnest  labours  among  the  Hellenes 


44          SAUL  AT  ANTIOCH  IN  SYKIA. 

and  Hellenists — the  renewal  of  the  work  of  Damascus 
and  Jerusalem.  And  they  twain  laboured  for  a  whole 
year  with  uninterrupted  energy,  and  drew  large  assemblies 
round  about  them.  Saul  displayed  his  former  intrepidity, 
while  his  past  experience  must  have  made  his  dialectics 
more  skilful,  and  his  own  growth  in  the  divine  life  must 
have  deepened  his  yearning  for  men's  salvation. 

Our  object  in  this  volume  is  to  illustrate  the  oral  addresses 
of  the  apostle.  Now,  though  the  topic  of  his  sermons  at 
Antioch  is  not  formally  given  us,  we  are  at  no  loss  to  infer 
what  it  was.  It  must,  indeed,  have  been  the  same  as  at 
Damascus  and  Jerusalem,  for  the  one  kind  of  preaching 
alone  could  enlighten  and  save.  The  preacher  did  not  vary 
in  his  themes.  Christ  and  Christ  alone,  and  in  Him  sal- 
vation, only  and  fully,  and  of  universal  offer  and  adaptation, 
was  his  unvarying  subject.  Speculation  and  hypothesis, 
ingenuity  and  rhetoric,  had  no  place  in  his  addresses,  but 
the  plain,  direct,  and  vivid  exhibition  of  Christ.  It  was 
the  story  of  salvation  by  the  cross — the  life  and  death  of 
the  Son  of  God.  It  was  not  opinion  about  Him,  but  what 
He  really  had  been.  It  was  not  what  conclusions  might 
be  formed  of  Him,  but  what  He  was,  and  what  He  did  to 
redeem  the  world.  With  this  lesson  Saul  "  taught  much 
people."  For  the  population  that  filled  the  four  great 
wards  of  Antioch  was  numerous  and  motley,  and  gathered 
from  every  nation  under  heaven. 

But  the  twenty-sixth  verse  supplies  us  with  another  and 
distinct  proof  of  our  statement,  that  Saul  preached  Christ, 
and  nothing  but  Christ,  at  Antioch.  The  disciples,  we  are 
told,  "  were  first  called  Christians  at  Antioch  " — not  in  the 


CHRISTIANS.  45 

holy  city  that  reclined  on  the  slopes  of  Mount  Zion,  but  in 
the  pagan  town  that  lay  on  the  northern  sides  of  Mount 
Sylphius ;  not  by  the  Jordan,  which  had  parted  its  waters 
at  the  presence  of  the  ark,  but  by  the  Orontes,  the  banks 
of  which  were  disgraced  by  the  legends  and  polluted  by 
the  scenes  of  the  vilest  lusts ;  not  on  the  spot  where  three 
thousand  on  one  day  had  been  converted,  but  where 
impurity  was  hallowed  with  religious  obligation,  and 
luxury  and  dissipation  held  perpetual  carnival.  They 
got  a  distinctive  epithet  from  the  name  Christ.  And 
why  ?  Simply  because  that  name  was  so  often  on  their 
lips ;  because  Saul  preached  Christ,  and  Christ  was  the 
burden  of  all  his  addresses,  and  they  believed  Christ, 
and  so  often  spoke  of  Christ;  because  Christ  was  the 
word  that  of  all  others  marked  them  out  as  a  class, 
from  their  fond  and  familiar  use  of  it — they  were  natu- 
rally named  Christians.  So  effectually  and  repeatedly  did 
Saul  preach  Christ,  so  thoroughly  did  his  preaching  iden- 
tify his  party  with  Christ,  that  the  name  was  imposed  upon 
it  as  a  new  and  distinct  religious  class.  The  "  disciples  " 
did  not  voluntarily  assume  it ;  the  Jews  could  not  give  it  to 
the  "sect  of  the  Nazarenes;"  but  the  heathen  population 
catching  the  sound  so  frequently,  coined  the  epithet  as  a 
true  and  happy  designation.  Because  they  so  often  called 
"upon  His  name,"  His  name  was  called  upon  them.  And 
though  it  does  not  hold  a  place  in  the  nomenclature  of  the 
New  Testament,  yet  it  was  well  bestowed. 

The  name  originated  among  non-Christians,  and  was 
used  by  them.  Thus  Agrippa  addressed  Paul — "  Almost 
thou  persuadest  me  to  be  a  Christian;"  and  Peter  says  to 


46  SAUL  AT  ANTIOCH  IN  SYEIA. 

the  elect  strangers  of  the  dispersion — "Yet  if  any  man 
suffer  as  a  Christian,  let  him  not  be  ashamed ; "  the  term 
being  that  employed  by  the  persecutors,  and  constituting 
the  principal  element  of  accusation.  "  Christ  came  into  the 
world  to  save  sinners,"  even  the  chief,  and  among  the  chief 
sinners  grew  up  this  name  given  to  His  followers,  and 
derived  from  His  own.  What,  indeed,  more  appropriate 
than  to  name  after  Christ  that  body  of  men  of  whose  creed 
Christ  was  the  core ;  of  whose  prayers  Christ  was  the  plea ; 
of  whose  praises  Christ  was  the  burden  j  of  whose  preach- 
ing Christ  was  the  theme ;  of  whose  life  Christ  was  the 
pattern  ,•  of  whose  actions  Christ  was  the  law  j  of  whose 
hopes  Christ  was  the  foundation ;  of  whose  hearts,  indeed, 
Christ  was  the  one  occupant  ?  What  more  natural  than  to 
term  Christians  the  people  who  learned  from  Christ  as 
prophet,  and  bowed  to  Christ  as  king ;  who  looked  up  to 
Christ  as  advocate,  and  forward  to  Christ  as  Judge ;  who 
enjoyed  pardon  through  Christ's  blood,  and  sanctification 
through  Christ's  Spirit ;  whose  weekly  holy  day  was  Christ's 
or  the  Lord's  day;  who  "named  the  name  of  Christ"  in 
their  sacred  rites  of  baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper ; 
who  regarded  the  presence  of  Christ  as  the  glory  of  their 
assemblies,  and  anticipated  fellowship  with  Christ  as  the 
crown  and  consummation  of  spiritual  bliss?  Thus  the 
name  arose  as  a  matter  of  public  convenience  or  necessity, 
in  consequence  of  the  numerous  accessions  to  the  church 
at  Antioch,  and  the  special  prominence  which  the  name 
Christ  had  in  all  their  own  services,  and  in  their 
intercourse  with  the  population  swarming  around  them, 
in  those  theatres  and  baths,  or  thronging  those  mag- 


JESUITS.  47 

nificent   colonnades — the   resorts   alike    of  business   and 
gaiety. 

And  is  not  the  title  appropriate  still  ?  He  was  Christ— 
the  anointed  One;  they,  too,  have  "an  unction  from  the 
Holy  One."  O  that  those  who  bear  it  verified  it  in  every- 
thing— so  living,  speaking,  and  acting  in  the  spirit  of 
Christ,  as  to  compel  the  world  still  to  "  take  knowledge 
of  them,"  and  to  name  them  after  Him  whom  they  so 
strikingly  resemble — Christians,  because  of  their  avowed 
and  visible  connection  with  Christ.  Are  not  they  rightly 
called  Christians  whose  life  springs  from  their  being  in 
Christ,  whose  ambition  is  to  be  like  Christ,  whose  work  is 
for  Christ,  and  whose  hope  is  to  be  with  Christ  for  ever? 
Who  then  of  those  who  "  call  on  this  name  "  would  say 
"I  am  of  Paul,"  or  "I  of  Apollos,"  or  "I  of  Cephas?" 
let  every  one  say — I  am  of  Christ,  and  never  forget  that 
he  has  said  it.  Let  the  coinage  of  other  titles  cease — 

Let  names  and  sects  and  parties  fall, 
And  Jesus  Christ  be  all  in  all. 

May  we  not  anticipate  the  time  when  names  assumed  from 
leaders,  or  taken  from  forms  of  government  and  ritual,  or 
drawn  from  points  of  history  or  from  local  origin  and  pre- 
dominance, shall  merge  in  this  grand  catholic  designation  ? 
Yet  strange  it  is  that  the  other  name  of  the  Eedeemer 
should  give  title  to  a  class  of  men  whose  history  has  been 
notorious  for  audacious  intrigue  and  villany;  that  those 
who  have  named  themselves  from  Jesus,  should  have  been 
distinguished  by  unparalleled  chicanery  and  the  most 
subtle  and  delusive  casuistry,  so  that  Christians  called 


48  SAUL  AT  ANTIOCH  IN   SYRIA. 

after  Christ  shrink  from  Jesuits  who  have  so  vilely 
appropriated  the  name  of  Jesus — nay,  who  style  them- 
selves the  Society  of  Jesus,  as  if  they  were  bound  to  Him 
by  a  closer  tie,  or  were  self-devoted  by  a  deeper  consecra- 
tion. Strange  it  is  to  use  this  pure  and  loving  name  as 
identified  with  men  whose  arts  and  ambition  have  so  often 
troubled  Europe ;  who  have  wielded  the  highest  and  most 
dangerous  power  without  being  suspected ;  whose  versatile 
genius  has  had  innumerable  modes  of  action  and  forms  of 
diplomacy  ;  sometimes  editing  learned  tomes,  and  some- 
times compiling  disgusting  and  prurient  directories  ;  equally 
at  home  in  drawing  a  will  and  penning  an  erudite  and 
ponderous  preface;  as  well  skilled  in  negotiating  an  ex- 
pedient marriage  as  in  contriving  an  opportune  death; 
holding  the  royal  stirrup  while  they  are  grasping  and 
giving  away  the  crown ;  creeping  when  they  dare  not  walk ; 
now  the  wriggle  of  the  snake,  and  now  the  spring  of  the 
panther;  ready  at  any  moment  to  obey  orders  to  betake 
themselves  to  any  region,  no  matter  how  distant,  and 
carry  out  any  policy,  no  matter  what  peril  and  labour  it 
involve;  drudging  in  the  kitchen  when  they  may  not 
discourse  in  the  library ;  assuming  the  livery  of  a  menial, 
if  it  is  not  convenient  to  wear  the  robe  of  a  confessor; 
making  a  wife  their  tool  or  a  concubine  their  decoy ;  con- 
trolling education  with  a  witching  devotedness  to  youth; 
outwitting  the  sharpest  and  defeating  the  boldest ;  spread- 
ing a  net  whose  invisible  meshes  catch  and  hold  the 
stoutest  and  most  wary;  most  charming  when  they  are 
most  malignant;  smiling  the  most  serenely  when  their 
purpose  is  most  deadly;  "which  devour  widows'  houses, 


LUTHER   AND   LOYOLA.  49 

and  for  a  pretence  make  long  prayers;"  banished  from 
every  country,  and  yet  found  at  home  in  each  of  them ;  per- 
secuted, and  still  thriving  when  to  all  appearance  extinct; 
detected,  but  never  disconcerted ;  often  counterworked, 
though  always  in  the  end  unbaffled ;  permitting  a  defeat  in 
one  quarter,  to  secure  a  greater  triumph  in  another;  furnished 
with  a  hundred  eyes,  and  putting  forth  a  hundred  arms ; 
all  things  to  all  men ;  possessed,  in  short,  of  a  craft  and 
might  which  kings  could  not  cope  with,  and  before  which 
popes  themselves  have  helplessly  trembled.  Luther  and 
Loyola  represent  progress  and  check,  action  and  reaction, 
in  the  same  epoch  of  the  ecclesiastical  world. 


IV.— SAUL  IN  CYPRUS. 


ACTS  xiii.  1 — 12. 

THE  world  was  yet  in  the  shadow  of  death,  though  light 
had  shone  upon  Judaea.  Idolatry  and  polytheism  were 
everywhere — vice  and  misery — life  without  peace,  and  death 
without  hope.  A  thousand  altars  smoked  in  honour  of  a  thou- 
sand divinities,  and  the  richest  fruits  of  genius  were  images 
and  temples.  There  were  gods  of  the  hills,  and  gods  of  the 
valleys ;  gods  of  the  streams,  and  gods  of  the  groves ;  gods 
of  the  earth,  and  gods  of  the  ocean ;  gods  of  the  sky,  and 
gods  of  the  underworld  of  death.  The  sacred  sculptures 
bore  upon  them  the  oak  of  Jupiter  and  the  myrtle  of  Venus ; 
the  eagle  of  Juno  and  the  owl  of  Minerva ;  the  trident  of 
Neptune  and  the  bow  of  Apollo ;  the  lance  of  Mars  and 
the  wand  of  Hermes.  There  were  erroneous  and  conflicting 
notions  of  duty — dubious  and  degrading  ideas  of  destiny. 
How  shall  a  sinner  be  just  with  God,  was  a  question 
which  could  not  be  solved,  and  the  relationship  of  man  to 
futurity  was  unbrightened  by  life  and  immortality.  That 
there  is  no  God  at  all,  but  highest  nature  working  divinely 
and  impersonally,  was  the  thought  of  some;  that  every- 
thing is  God,  or  a  necessary  evolution  of  his  nature  and  a 
portion  of  him,  was  the  dream  of  others.  That  the  present 
system  is  bound  up  in  fate,  was  the  conjecture  of  one 
class  j  that  it  is  the  offspring  of  chance,  and  without  super- 


PROPHETS.  51 

intendence,  was  the  vanity  of  another  class.  Grecian  tastes 
and  studies,  Koman  roads  and  conquests,  arts  and  laws, 
commerce  and  literature,  could  not  impart  the  requisite 
spiritual  benefit.  "  The  world  by  wisdom  knew  not  God ; " 
its  population  "  became  vain  in  their  imaginations,  and 
their  foolish  heart  was  darkened."  Shall  not,  therefore, 
the  glorious  gospel  take  a  step  westward  towards  Europe, 
and  at  length  fix  itself  in  its  heart  and  capital  ?  Glorious 
promises  were  nearing  their  fulfilment — "  the  isles  shall 
wait  for  His  law." 

After  Antioch,  Cyprus  is  formally  visited.  Antioch  had 
indeed  become  the  metropolis  of  Gentile  Christendom, 
and  it  was  faithful  to  its  position  when  it  organized  the 
first  formal  missionary  enterprise.  It  had  in  it  certain 
prophetSj  or  living  depositaries  of  sacred  truth.  The  pro- 
phets in  the  New  Testament  stood  to  the  early  churches 
nearly  in  the  same  relation  as  do  our  printed  Bibles  to  our 
modern  churches.  They  spoke  by  authority  and  without 
error,  and  gave  to  their  audiences  such  details  as  occur  in 
the  gospels,  and  such  illustrations  and  precepts  as  are 
found  in  the  epistles.  They  were  the  "  men  of  their  coun- 
sel"— present  oracles,  whose  "lips  keep  knowledge."  It 
would  seem  as  if  missionary  labour  had  been  occupying 
their  attention,  and  had  been  the  theme  of  their  earnest 
and  united  service  and  fasting.  These  religious  exercises 
might  have  had  such  an  end  in  view — perhaps  the  inquiry 
who  shall  go  for  us,  and  where  shall  the  first  experiment 
be  made  ?  At  this  crisis  the  Divine  Spirit,  who  fills  and 
informs  the  church,  said — "  Separate  me  Barnabas  and 
Saul  for  the  work  whereunto  I  have  called  them."  The 


52  SAUL  IN   CYPRUS. 

two  teachers  were  at  once  designated  by  the  imposition  of 
hands;  not  ordained  simply  as  ministers,  for  they  had 
ministered  already ;  nor  yet  elevated  to  the  apostolate — a 
promotion  not  within  human  power,  nor  could  the  prophets 
impart  an  office  higher  than  that  held  by  themselves  :  the 
river  cannot  rise  above  its  source.  The  call  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  was  a  separation  from  their  brethren  and  their 
settled  labour.  The  work  to  which  they  were  set  apart  was. 
that  missionary  tour  recorded  in  the  following  chapters — 
from  Antioch  to  Cyprus ;  thence  to  Perga  and  Antioch  in 
Pisidia ;  thence  to  Iconium,  Lystra,  and  Derbe,  and  back 
through  these  towns;  then  by  Pamphylia,  Perga,  and  Attalia 
to  Antioch,  where  they  gave  the  church  which  had  sent 
them  a  report  of  their  labours.  Barnabas  and  Saul  were 
sent  of  the  church,  and  they  were  sent  of  the  Spirit :  the 
Spirit  nominated,  but  the  church  installed  them.  Their 
qualification  was  the  gift  of  the  Spirit ;  but  money  to  defray 
necessary  expenditure  was  the  contribution  of  the  church. 
The  church  prayed  for  them,  too,  ere  they  left.  The  mis- 
sionaries were  to  do  His  work,  and  they  prayed  Him  to 
bless  it ;  to  speak  His  truth,  and  they  prayed  Him  to  seal 
it ;  to  build  up  His  church,  and  they  prayed  Him  to  pros- 
per it ;  and  to  fill  up  His  reward,  and  they  prayed  that  His 
beauty  might  rest  upon  his  servants. 

Evangelistic  work  hitherto  had  been  sporadic  in  nature, 
the  mere  result  of  circumstances,  or  the  prompting  of 
spiritual  instinct.  The  church  had  made  no  direct  effort 
to  carry  the  truth  abroad ;  it  thought  more  of  conserving 
it  than  of  spreading  it.  The  spirit  of  Judaism  still 
reigned.  It  did  not  go  in  quest  of  proselytes,  but  pro- 


FIRST  MISSIONARY  VOYAGE.  53 

selytes  might  come  to  it.  No  ship  left  Judsea  carrying 
Bibles  to  Tarshish,  or  missionaries  to  the  ends  of  the  earth. 
It  might  accept  such  as  sought  it — it  did  not  go  out  and 
seek  them.  But  Antioch  has  the  signal  honour  of  sending 
out  the  first  heralds  of  the  cross.  It  felt  what  were  the 
wants  of  the  world,  and  sought  to  supply  them.  The 
Spirit  selected  Barnabas  and  Saul,  and  the  church  cheer- 
fully separated  them  for  the  work.  The  two  preachers,  so 
commissioned,  and  so  well  furnished  too,  left  the  city, 
passed  down  to  its  seaport  Seleucia,  nigh  the  mouth  of 
the  river,  and  set  sail  for  Cyprus,  an  island  about  a  hun- 
dred miles  distant  to  the  south-west,  and  the  summit 
of  whose  hills  might  be  seen  by  them  from  the  moment 
they  embarked.  The  vessel  which  carried  them  bore  in 
the  highest  sense  the  fortune  of  the  world.  As  she  flew 
through  the  waves,  and  the  opposing  current  sent  the 
white  spray  over  her,  the  two  strangers  felt  that  her  course 
was  not  fleet  enough  for  their  earnest  anticipations.  They 
were  inagurating  a  new  era,  and  commencing  a  work 
which  should  be  repeated  in  many  an  age  and  in  many  a 
country,  until  every  people  shall  have  its  sanctuary,  and 
every  tongue  be  enriched  by  its  version  of  the  scriptures, 
and  the  world  bow  to  the  happy  and  universal  reign  of  the 
Lord  Jesus.  Cyprus  was  chosen  for  good  reasons.  It  was 
the  birthplace  of  Barnabas,  and  the  gospel  had  already 
got  a  footing  in  it,  being  carried  out  to  it  as  to  Antioch  by 
them  "who  were  scattered  abroad  upon  the  persecution 
that  arose  about  Stephen."  Barnabas  must  have  known 
something  of  the  manners  and  characters  of  its  population ; 
and,  judging  that  his  native  isle  was  somewhat  similar  in 


54  SAUL  IN  CYPRUS. 

these  respects  to  Antioch,  he  might  anticipate  as  great 
success  in  the  work  of  the  Lord.  It  was  as  natural  for  Bar- 
nabas to  visit  Cyprus,  as  for  Saul  to  go  to  Tarsus,  or  labour 
in  Cilicia.  Besides,  it  was  "men  of  Cyprus"  who  had 
brought  the  word  to  Antioch,  and  they  would  love  their 
island  home,  and  long  to  see  the  faith  of  Christ  proclaimed 
in  it. 

The  evangelists  landed  at  the  nearest  port,  that  of 
Salami's,  on  the  east  of  the  island,  and  commenced  opera- 
tions. There  were  many  Jews  in  Cyprus — it  was  close 
upon  their  own  country,  and  was  a  garden  of  rare  fertility 
and  beauty  •  and  when  Augustus  leased  its  copper-mines 
to  Herod,  crowds  from  Palestine  had  settled  in  it.  Salamis 
had  a  number  of  synagogues,  while  other  towns  usually 
had  but  one.  There  Barnabas  and  Saul  preached  the  word 
— the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  doctrine  of  salvation 
"by  the  cross  of  Christ.  It  is  also  to  be  borne  in  mind  that 
numerous  proselytes  must  have  been  in  those  synagogues, 
for  paganism  had  greatly  lost  its  hold,  and  the  unsatisfied 
spirit  of  many  sought  refuge  in  Judaism.  While  there 
was  profound  indifference  on  the  part  of  the  majority,  there 
was  also  with  others  a  restless  searching  after  some  other 
and  higher  object  of  confidence  and  homage.  Thousands 
were  powerfully  attracted  by  the  purity  and  simplicity  of 
the  Mosaic  faith  and  worship,  for  it  presented  so  noble  and 
striking  a  contrast  to  the  crude  idolatries  and  licentious 
indulgences  round  about  them.  Such  minds  were  the  more 
easily  impressed  by  the  gospel,  for  they  would  find  in  it  a 
history  without  parallel,  doctrine  that  spoke  to  their  inmost 
longings,  and  ethics  that  realized  the  loftiest  ideal  of  human 


PAPHOS.  55 

obligation  and  destiny.  Preaching  in  the  synagogues 
reached  this  class  ot  the  community,  besides  bringing  truth 
into  contact  with  the  Jewish  mind.  A  preference  was 
given  to  the  Jews  in  the  delivery  of  the  message — the 
ancient  heritage  of  the  Lord  is  first  saluted  with  the 
gracious  offer.  How  could  it  have  been  otherwise?  It 
was  impossible  even  in  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles  to 
throw  off  the  attachments  of  blood  and  kindred ;  and  when 
he  remembered  what  he  had  felt  against  Christ,  and  knew 
from  himself  what  so  many  of  his  brethren  must  feel,  too, 
his  spirit  kindled  at  the  thought,  and  his  life's  labour,  as 
well  as  his  "  heart's  desire  and  prayer  to  God  for  Israel, 
was  that  they  might  be  saved."  John  was  "their  minister" 
— the  relative  of  Barnabas — in  a  variety  of  ways  serving 
them  and  making  arrangements  for  them ;  their  pioneer, 
assistant,  and  subordinate  colleague. 

Barnabas  and  Saul  visited  many  places,  and  went 
through  the  whole  isle  as  far  as  Paphos  on  its  western 
shore,  and  above  a  hundred  miles  from  Salamis.  The 
Eoman  proconsul  was  at  Paphos,  a  place  infamous  for  its 
temple  and  dissolute  worship.  It  has  been  remarked  that 
Luke  employs  the  proper  term  for  this  officer — one,  indeed, 
that  would  not  have  been  applicable  many  years  previously, 
when  the  island  was  governed  by  an  imperial  legate  or 
proprsetor.  But  Cyprus,  originally  an  imperial  province, 
had  before  this  period  been  handed  over  to  the  senate.  At 
Paphos  the  gospel  came  again  into  contact  with  the  magic 
of  the  East.  Already  it  had  confronted  Simon  at  Samaria, 
who  professed  himself  a  convert  for  the  sake  of  initiation 
into  a  knowledge  or  possession  of  what  he  deemed  its  occult 


56  SAUL  IN   CYPRUS. 

powers ;  and  here  it  met  Bar-Jesus,  who  sought  to  oppose 
it  with  selfish  and  quick-witted  hostility.  Such  Jewish 
impostors,  false  prophets  by  old  Hebrew  statute,  abounded 
in  the  empire;  trading  in  imposture,  pandering  to  the 
wily  or  to  the  weak-minded.  Through  that  superior  reli- 
gious knowledge  which  every  Jew  possessed,  or  by  that 
quackery  which  esoteric  associates  kept  secret  among 
themselves,  or  even  by  mere  trickery  and  vulgar  fortune- 
telling,  they  often  contrived  to  obtain  both  secret  and  open 
influence  over  ignorant,  inquisitive,  or  superstitious  minds. 
Many  of  the  higher  classes  among  the  Jews  practised  these 
arts,  as  is  shown  by  the  abundant  references  of  the  Talmud. 
The  nation  which  refused  Christ's  miracles  was  imposed 
on  by  jugglery.  It  would  not  have  the  sun,  as  he  rose 
upon  it — and  it  chased  the  meteor,  flitting  through  the 
marshes.  It  listened  not  to  the  divine  oracle,  and  it  now 
crouched  to  those  "that  peep  and  mutter."  It  spurned 
away  the  truth,  and  there  fell  upon  it  a  "  strong  delusion 
to  believe  a  lie,"  to  give  heed  "  to  profane  babblings,"  and 
occupy  itself  with  "  foolish  and  unlearned  questions."  The 
religious  instinct  sought  gratification;  and  having  rejected 
its  appropriate  pabulum,  but  still  hungering  and  clamouring 
for  bread,  it  got  a  stone.  Throughout  the  Koman  empire 
religious  conviction  was  shaken ;  the  state-worship  no 
longer  impressed;  spiritual  delusions  were  breaking  up, 
and  in  this  transitional  state  impostors  found  ample  scope 
for  the  exercise  of  their  ingenuity,  and  profited  by  it. 

The  "  deputy  of  the  country "  was  in  these  circum- 
stances, and  Bar-Jesus — son  of  Jesus  or  Joshua,  "was 
with  him" — had  attached  himself  to  his  court,  and  pro- 


ELYMAS.  57 

bably  exercised  no  little  sway  over  him  as  a  confidential 
adviser.  The  proconsul  was  a  "prudent" — or  intelligent 
man,  one  that  thought  for  himself;  he  had  apparently  thrown 
off  the  religion  of  his  country,  but  had  adopted  none  other. 
He  had  seen  the  folly  of  idolatry,  and  may  have  revolted 
at  the  filthy  Paphian  worship,  consecrated  lust.  He  had 
ceased  to  adore  "  gods  many,  and  lords  many,"  but  had 
not  done  homage  to  the  one  Jehovah ;  the  altar  of  Venus 
no  longer  charmed  him,  and  yet  was  he  haunted  with  the 
inquiry — "Wherewith  shall  I  come  before  the  Lord?" 
The  old  faith  was  gone,  but  it  had  not  been  succeeded  by 
a  newer  and  better  creed.  His  soul  was  groping  in  dark- 
ness, scarce  knowing  what  it  yearned  after,  and  uncertain 
where  and  how  to  find  the  object  of  its  desires.  To  a  mind 
under  such  painful  and  distracting  apprehensions,  any 
doctrine  claiming  divine  authority  is  welcome,  and  the 
theology  of  this  Jewish  magician  must  have  to  some  extent 
commended  itself.  It  brought  with  it  the  great  truths  of 
the  unity  and  spirituality  of  the  Divine  Being — a  refresh- 
ing doctrine  to  a  mind  wearied  out  with  the  very  names  of 
numberless  divinities.  But  he  was  not  satisfied,  and  the 
same  desire  that  brought  him  under  the  power  of  Elymas, 
and  upon  which  Elymas  had  traded,  led  him  to  send 
for  the  preachers  of  a  new  religion — to  learn  what  other 
novelties  they  introduced,  or  what  deeper  mysteries  they 
might  expound.  He  could  not  be  supposed  to  know  much 
of  the  gospel,  yet  he  seems  to  style  it  "  the  word  of  God," 
for  it  was  in  its  character  of  a  divine  revelation  that  he 
wished  to  hear  it.  It  was  not  speculation  or  philosophy 
that  his  soul  thirsted  after,  but  an  oracular  intimation  of 


58  SAUL   IN   CYPRUS. 

duty  and  destiny.  He  would  not  be  chilled  with  Stoicism, 
nor  lulled  into  Epicurean  indifference.  His  anxiety  was  not 
to  hear  hypotheses,  or  be  amused  with  reverie,  but  to  have 
something  said  to  him  of  his  religious  interests,  something 
which  referred  itself  to  a  divine  source,  and  brought  with 
it  supreme  authority. 

The  addresses  or  conversations  of  the  evangelists  pro- 
duced a  deep  impression  on  the  mind  of  the  proconsul. 
The  sorcerer  who  had  arrogated  to  himself  the  Arabic  term 
Elymas,  or  wise  man — wizard — a  term  still  applied  to  the 
Mahometan  doctors  in  the  Turkish  empire,  could  not 
suffer  those  impressions  to  be  deepened,  but  sought  by 
every  means  to  disturb  and  remove  them.  His  selfish 
schemes  would  all  vanish  if  his  patron  should  yield  to  the 
teaching  of  the  two  strangers.  Such  an  issue  must  at  all 
hazards  be  prevented,  and  therefore  the  impostor  withstood 
the  apostle,  and  sought  to  prejudice  the  mind  of  the  gover- 
nor against  him.  He  sought  "  to  turn  away  the  deputy 
from  the  faith;"  he  was  loath  to  lose  his  victim,  and 
struggled  hard  to  retain  him  in  bondage.  How  he  strove 
to  keep  his  ground  is  not  known;  but,  perhaps,  if  the 
rebuke  of  Saul  have  any  special  reference  to  the  mode 
of  his  antagonism,  it  points  to  sophistry  and  malignant 
insinuation ;  perversion  of  facts,  and  wilful  misinterpreta- 
tion of  doctrines  and  motives ;  an  attempt  so  to  picture  the 
faith  in  its  proofs,  precepts,  experiences,  or  results,  as  to 
induce  the  deputy  to  dislike  it,  suspect  its  teachers,  and 
refuse  their  message.  So  pertinacious  was  he  and  dex- 
terous, that  an  example  must  be  made  of  him ;  and  Saul's 
first  miracle  must  be  one  of  judgment  on  a  spiteful  and 


DARK  ARTS.  59 

irreclaimable  adversary.  The  contest  was,  whether  Elymas 
the  sorcerer  or  the  truth  of  Christ  was  to  have  the  ascen- 
dancy over  the  mind  of  the  insular  governor.  The  new 
power  was  about  to  dash  and  confound  the  old  and  cunning 
errors,  and  to  show  its  superiority  to  all  that  kind  of  hidden 
deceit,  charms,  and  "  curious  arts  "  with  which  it  might  be 
ignorantly  and  popularly  identified.  It  was  to  disentangle 
itself  from  all  those  superstitions  which,  from  Syria  and 
Judea,  had  overspread  the  empire.  Just  as  Bar-Jesus  was 
with  Sergius  Paulus,  so  had  a  Syrian  seeress  been  with 
Marius  in  his  campaigns  j  so  had  oriental  astrologers  been 
occasionally  with  Pompey,  Caesar,  and  Crassus;  so  had 
Thrasyllus  been  with  the  emperor  Tiberius ;  and  Josephus 
speaks  of  a  Cypriot  named  Simon  who  rose  into  high  favour 
with  the  governor  Felix.  The  apostle  Peter  had  already 
unmasked  another  Simon,  and  a  few  years  later  the  Ephe- 
sian  converts  burned  their  costly  books.  Banished  from 
Rome  again  and  again,  those  spiritualists  maintained  a 
place  in  it,  for  they  were  feared,  and  yet  courted;  and 
while  they  were  frowned  upon,  they  could  not  be  dispensed 
with.  Thus  Saul,  the  king  of  Israel,  had  put  down  all 
that  had  "  familiar  spirits,"  and  yet,  in  his  extremity,  he 
resorted  to  a  woman  reported  to  have  one  of  them. 

Saul,  henceforth  to  be  named  Paul,  has  been  during 
this  mission  rising  to  a  full  conception  of  his  apostolical 
dignity  and  prerogative.  "  The  Spirit  of  God  came  upon 
him  "  to  do  a  mightier  act  than  Samson  ever  did  by  the 
same  influence.  Intensely  conscious  of  his  position  and  what 
it  involved  at  that  awful  moment,  and  looking  on  the  wizard 
with  an  eye  that  read  his  soul,  the  anathema  burst  from 


60  SAUL  IN   CYPRUS. 

his  lips.  It  was  no  idle  rebuke — his  word  came  with 
power.  The  magician  might  be  appalled  at  the  fulmina- 
tion,  but  could  scarce  expect  such  an  instant  retribution. 
Filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost — armed  with  a  supernatural 
power  to  chastise  the  incorrigible — Paul  said :  "  O  full  of 
all  subtilty  and  all  mischief,  thou  child  of  the  devil,  thou 
enemy  of  all  righteousness,  wilt  thou  not  cease  to  pervert 
the  right  ways  of  the  Lord?"  What  a  concentration 
of  scorn  and  wrath !  every  word  withers  and  denounces. 
0  full  of  all  subtilty! — a  master  of  low  cunning  and  in- 
genious retort ;  so  that  he  easily  turned  the  edge  of  the 
apostle's  arguments.  He  understood  the  weak  points  in 
the  character  of  Sergius  Paulus,  and  knowingly  plied  him 
with  such  objections  as  should  most  powerfully  tell  upon 
him.  Such  subtilty  is  not  penetration,  and  such  casuistic 
ingenuity  soon  imposes  on  its  possessor,  and  he  comes  to 
have  faith  in  his  own  coinage.  And  all  mischief — facility 
of  evil-working ;  he  was  clever  in  his  mischief.  Highest 
mischief,  not  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  himself,  nor  yet  to 
suffer  the  proconsul  to  enter  either;  infinite  harm  so  to 
trade  on  man's  spiritual  instincts,  and  tamper  with  his 
eternal  destiny ! 

Thou  child  of  the  devil — the  devil's  own ;  not  a  child  of 
Jesus  the  Blessed,  as  thy  name  is,  but  a  child  of  the  devil 
— proving  thy  lineage  by  showing  thy  father's  spirit  and 
doing  thy  father's  work,  the  very  work  he  did  in  Eden 
when  by  hellish  craft  and  falsehood  he  seduced  the  first  pair 
to  their  ruin.  He  tempted  Eve  by  the  tree  of  knowledge, 
insinuated  into  her  mind  doubts  of  God's  disinterestedness, 
as  if  He  were  jealous  lest  she  should  rise  to  an  equality  with 


MIRACLE   OF  DOOM.  61 

Himself  by  her  eating  of  that  fruit;  so  that  under  this 
delusion  she  felt  it  to  be  a  duty  to  eat,  become  a  goddess, 
and  be  wise.  Elymas,  in  a  similar  spirit,  had  persuaded 
the  proconsul  that  highest  wisdom  dwelt  with  him — the 
knowledge  of  God  and  of  the  way  of  life.  And  surely 
error  in  the  guise  of  truth,  or  death  wearing  a  mask  of 
life,  is  the  devil,  or  the  child  of  the  devil.  "  Thou  enemy 
of  all  righteousness,  wilt  thou  not  cease  to  pervert  the 
right  ways  of  the  Lord?"  This  terrible  interrogation 
was  a  solemn  command  to  desist,  and  it  tells  his  crime. 
"The  right  ways  of  the  Lord"  is  a  phrase  which  may  be 
employed  to  characterize  not  only  the  gospel  as  the  true 
path,  but  also  the  old  dispensation.  He  might  pervert 
it  so  as  by  it  to  oppose  Christianity,  or  use  it  as  a  prin- 
cipal engine  to  perplex  the  mind  of  his  victim,  so  that  it 
might  repel  Christianity.  He  contrived  either  to  give  a 
crooked  turn  to  the  right  way,  that  it  might  lead  in  an 
opposite  direction,  or  he  hoped  to  make  it  such  a  labyrinth 
that  none  could  find  their  way  in  it  save  such  as  paid  him 
for  the  clue  to  guide  them.  Wicked  and  wilful  cleverness 
— dexterity  in  the  devil's  own  likeness — so  to  "pervert  the 
right  ways  of  the  Lord,"  so  to  misrepresent  Judaism  or 
Christianity,  as  that  in  either  case  poison  should  be  plucked 
from  the  tree  of  life  ! 

The  apostle  adds  the  terrible  words  —  "And  now, 
behold,  the  hand  of  the  Lord  is  upon  thee,  and  thou 
shalt  be  blind,  not  seeing  the  sun  for  a  season."  This 
challenge,  so  far  as  we  know,  was  Paul's  first  conscious 
putting  forth  of  supernatural  power.  Strange  that  his 
earliest  miracle  should  be  one  of  doom — the  infliction  of 


62  SAUL  IN   CYPRUS. 

such  a  blindness  as  in  the  moment  of  his  conversion  had 
come  upon  himself.  He  could  not  but  compassionate  the 
guilty  wretch,  as  he  saw  him  gradually  losing  the  power 
of  vision,  gazing  around  him  with  wild  eyeballs,  and 
groping  in  dismay.  The  miracle  is  described  with  awful 
precision.  "And  immediately  there  fell  on  him  a  mist 
and  a  darkness ;  and  he  went  about  seeking  some  to  lead 
him  by  the  hand."  A  mist  gathered  over  his  eyes,  so 
that  he  saw  indistinctly,  but  it  soon  thickened  into  total 
obscurity.  The  haze  that  for  a  moment  floated  before  him 
darkened  into  midnight  j  and  his  frantic  gesticulations 
indicated  his  desire  for  "  some  to  lead  him  by  the  hand." 
That  blindness  was  a  symbol  of  his  own  spirit  and  work. 
His  moral  sense  was  blunted,  and  in  attempting  to  sway 
Sergius  Paulus,  it  was  the  blind  leading  the  blind,  while 
he  needed  to  be  led  himself.  He  might  profess  to  work 
by  the  finger  of  God,  but  the  heavy  hand  of  God  fell  upon 
him,  and  its  shadow  extinguished  his  vision.  His  sin 
might  be  read  in  his  judgment.  His  boast  was  of  insight, 
but  he  was  taught  that  he  saw  nothing. 

Infliction  coming  direct  from  God's  hand,  often  takes 
its  shape  from  the  crime.  Ham  mocked  his  father,  and 
his  doom  was  one  of  servitude,  under  which  a  father's 
claims  are  ignored,  and  he  is  valued  but  as  the  pro- 
ducer of  living  marketable  tools.  Abimelech  wished  to 
add  Sarah  to  his  harem,  and  sterility  was  the  penalty  of 
his  household.  Israel,  God's  first-born,  are  kept  in  bon- 
dage, and  Pharaoh's  first-born  fall  before  the  destroying 
angel.  Korah,  Dathan,  Abiram,  and  On  conspired  to 
undermine  the  authority  of  Moses,  but  a  mine  was  sprung 


JUDGMENT  SHAPED   BY  SIN.  63 

under  themselves — "they  went  down  alone  into  the  pit, 
and  the  earth  closed  upon  them."  Miriam  murmured  that 
the  alien  wife  of  her  brother  should  be  naturalized,  and  she 
was  smitten  with  a  loathsome  distemper,  which  instantly 
excluded  her  from  the  camp.  Jeroboam  put  forth  his 
hand  against  "the  man  of  God  which  had  cried  against 
the  altar  in  Bethel,"  "and  his  hand  which  he  had  put 
forth  against  him  dried  up,  so  that  he  could  not  pull  it  in 
again  to  him."  When  Uzziah  "was  strong,  his  heart  was 
lifted  up  to  his  destruction ; "  and  when  he  intruded  into 
the  temple  to  burn  incense,  "the  leprosy  rose  up  in  his 
forehead,"  and  he  durst  not  afterwards  pass  beyond  his  own 
dwelling ;  "and  he  was  cut  off  from  the  house  of  the  Lord." 
Those  that  exhausted  the  flesh  of  Israel  by  labour  and 
slavery,  shall  be  fed  "  with  their  own  flesh,"  according  to 
the  menace  of  Jehovah.  "  They  have  shed  the  blood 
of  saints  and  prophets,  and  Thou  hast  given  them  blood 
to  drink."  In  the  hour  of  his  impious  exultation,  when 
he  thought  himself  a  "  mortal  God,"  Nebuchadnezzar 
was  smitten  with  a  strange  mania,  and  herded  with  the 
beasts  of  the  field.  The  tongue  which  had  spoken  proud 
words  imitated  the  lowings  of  the  oxen  ;  the  fingers 
which  had  grasped  the  sceptre  carried  the  green  provender 
to  the  royal  lips ;  and  all  this  "  till  his  hair  was  grown  like 
eagles'  feathers,  and  his  nails  like  birds'  claws."  Zecha- 
riah  saw  the  vision,  but  spoke  to  Gabriel  in  incredulity ; 
therefore  he  was  struck  dumb,  and  was  "not  able  to  speak" 
till  the  promise  was  fulfilled.  When  Herod  accepted  hom- 
age as  a  god,  his  godship — set  upon  by  the  lowest  vermin 
— "  was  eaten  of  worms,  and  gave  up  the  ghost." 


64  SAUL   IN   CYPKUS. 

Paul  had  risen  to  the  dignity  and  authority  of  his 
apostolate.  He  had  a  "power  to  edification,"  though  it 
now  assumed  a  terrific  aspect  ;  and  the  deputy,  awed  and 
overcome,  believed,  being  astonished  at  the  doctrine  of  the 
Lord — at  the  way  in  which  the  Lord  taught,  and  so 
strikingly  authenticated  His  doctrine.  The  blindness 
inflicted  on  his  evil  genius  for  endeavouring  so  malig- 
nantly to  prevent  the  true  light  from  entering  into  his 
heart,  proved  to  him  that  Paul  was  no  pretender,  and 
that  the  doctrine  which  could  take  so  sudden  and  signal 
vengeance  on  its  opponent,  was  armed  with  a  power  that 
betokened  its  supernatural  origin.  He  was  awe-struck,  and 
was  unable  to  refuse  his  assent.  He  could  not  allow  the 
sorcerer  to  trifle  with  him  any  longer,  nor  durst  he  longer 
"halt  between  two  opinions;"  but  he  bowed  to  the  truth 
proclaimed  by  the  Hebrew  missionaries.  Thus  judgment 
and  mercy  have  been  often  associated.  The  acceptance  of 
Abel  led  to  the  banishment  of  Cain  ;  the  water  that  bore  up 
Noah's  ark  drowned  the  old  world  ;  the  escape  of  Lot  was 
the  signal  for  the  fire-shower  upon  Sodom ;  the  exodus  of 
Israel  was  preceded  by  the  doom  of  Egypt ;  the  posses- 
sion of  Canaan  is  the  expulsion  of  the  Canaanites;  the 
child  Jesus  is  "  set  for  the  fall  and  rising  again  of  many;" 
the  life  of  the  world  springs  from  the  murder  of  Calvary; 
men  live  to  righteousness  in  proportion  as  they  die  to  sin ; 
the  casting  away  of  the  chosen  race  was  the  "  reconciling 
of  the  world ; "  and  the  enlightenment  of  Sergius  Paulus 
has  by  its  side  the  blinding  of  Elymas  the  sorcerer. 
"  Behold,  therefore,  the  goodness  and  severity  of  God ! " 


V.— PAUL  AT  ANTIOCH  IN  PISIDIA. 


ACTS  riii.  13—52. 


BARNABAS  and  Saul  had  gone  to  Cyprus,  but  their  rela- 
tive position  was  changed  during  their  residence  in  the 
island ;  and  in  the  record  of  their  departure  from  it,  Paul 
occupies  the  place  of  honour  and  prominence.  The  con- 
version of  Sergius  Paulus  seems  to  remind  the  historian 
that  he  of  Tarsus  then  assumed,  and  afterwards  bore,  the 
similar  name  of  Paul ;  and  that  with  the  proper  commence- 
ment of  his  labours  as  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  the 
native  Hebrew  name  of  Saul  is  for  ever  dropped.  The 
subsidence  of  Barnabas  into  a  subordinate  position  may 
have  offended  his  nephew  Mark,  and  been  one  of  the  rea- 
sons which  induced  him  to  desert  the  enterprise  and  return 
to  his  mother  at  Jerusalem.  At  length  "Paul  and  his 
company  loosed  from  Paphos,"  passed  over  to  Asia 
Minor,  skirting  the  western  confines  of  Cilicia,  and  sailed 
up  the  Oestrus,  landing  at  Perga  in  Pamphylia.  Then 
crossing  the  great  table-land  of  the  country,  they  entered 
Antioch  of  Pisidia — a  city,  the  ruins  of  which  have  been 
only  recently  discovered.  What  induced  them  to  make 
this  visit  we  know  not ;  perhaps  they  anticipated  that  this 
second  Antioch  would  be  as  rich  in  its  spiritual  harvest 
as  the  first  Antioch  on  the  Orontes.  They  took  an  early 
opportunity  of  worshipping  on  Sabbath  in  the  synagogue ; 

E 


66  PAUL  AT  ANTIOCH  IN   PISIDIA. 

and  "  after  the  reading  of  the  law  and  the  prophets/'  an 
appeal  was  made  to  the  two  strangers,  or  rather  a  mes- 
sage was  sent  to  them  by  the  presiding  elders.     Paul  at 
once  rose,  and,  waving  his  hand,  solicited  the  attention  of 
the  audience.     It  has  been  asserted  with  some  show  of 
probability,  that  on  this  sacred  day  the  portion  of  the  law 
read  was  the  first  chapter  of  Deuteronomy,  and  the  corre- 
sponding section  of  the  prophets,  the  first  chapter  of  Isaiah. 
The  discourse  of  the  apostle  grew  out  of  the  scripture 
which  had  been  repeated,  and  he  takes  from  it  some  of  his 
historical  allusions.     In  the  synagogue  of  Nazareth  Jesus 
read  the  scripture  for  the  day,  and  proceeded  to  expound 
and  apply  it;  but  the  apostle   speaks   after  it  had  been 
chanted  by  the  appropriate   officer,  and  introduces  such 
ideas  and  associations  as  the  word  which  they  had  heard 
must  have  stirred  up  within   them.     His  audience  was 
composed  of  Jews  and  proselytes — men  of  Israel  by  birth, 
and  those  that  fear  God — those  of  other  nations  who  had 
renounced  idolatry  for  the  spiritual  worship  of  Jehovah. 
This  discourse,  the  first  of  Paul's  discourses  reported  at 
any  length,  dwells  on  three  points — the  prior  history  of 
the  people,  and  its  connection  with  the  advent ;  then  the 
Messiahship  of  Jesus,  and  its  proofs ;  and  lastly,  the  solemn 
application  of  the  truth  to  themselves. 

The  historical  exordium  of  the  apostle  is  brief  but  pointed. 
"  Men  of  Israel,  and  those  fearing  God,  listen.  The  God 
of  this  people  chose  for  Himself  our  fathers,  and  the  people 
He  exalted  during  their  sojourn  as  strangers  in  the  land 
of  Egypt,  and  with  a  high  arm  did  He  lead  them  out  of  it, 
and  for  about  forty  years  did  He  nurse  them  in  the  wilder- 


DIVINE  GIFTS  TO  ISRAEL.  67 

ness ;  and,  having  destroyed  seven  nations  in  the  land  of 
Canaan,  he  assigned  by  lot  their  land  to  them ;  and  after 
these  things,  for  about  four  hundred  and  fifty  years  he 
gave  them  judges,  until  Samuel  the  prophet ;  and  thereafter 
they  desired  for  themselves  a  king,  and  God  gave  them 
Saul,  the  son  of  Kish — a  man  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin — 
for  forty  years;  and,  having  deposed  him,  he  raised  up 
David  to  them  £>r  a  king,  to  whom  he  spoke,  giving  this 
testimony — '  I  have  found  David,  the  son  of  Jesse,  a  man 
according  to  my  own  heart,  who  shall  perform  all  my  will 
(all  the  expressions  of  my  will).'  Of  this  man's  seed  has 
God,  according  to  promise,  brought  to  Israel  a  Saviour — 
Jesus ;  John  having  preached  beforehand,  before  His 
entrance  (on  His  public  ministry)  the  baptism  of  repen- 
tance to  all  the  people  of  Israel.  And  as  John  was  ful- 
filling his  course,  he  was  wont  to  say  —  'Whom  do  ye 
suppose  me  to  be  ?  (the  Messiah  ?)  I  am  not.  But,  behold, 
there  cometh  one  after  me,  whose  footstrap  I  am  not 
worthy  to  loose.'  Men — brethren,  children  of  the  stock  of 
Abraham,  and  those  among  you  fearing  God,  to  you  was 
the  word  of  this  salvation  sent.n 

And  first,  be  it  remarked,  the  leading  feature  of  this 
portion  of  the  address  is — what  God  had  done  for  the 
nation.  A  series  of  divine  benefactions  is  detailed,  culmi- 
nating in  the  gift  of  a  Saviour — Jesus.  Each  of  these  divine 
interpositions  was  a  salvation  for  the  time ;  each  hero  and 
legislator  had  been  a  saviour;  but  this  great  salvation 
was  now  finally  sent.  Each  crisis  in  Israel's  history  pro- 
claimed— "this  is  the  Lord's  doing ;"  but  the  last  was  the 
most  glorious  of  all.  Every  period  was  preparatory  to  this 


68  PAUL  AT  ANTIOCH  IN  PISIDIA. 

great  end — the  election,  the  emancipation,  the  settlement, 
the  judges,  the  monarchy,  Saul's  elevation  and  deposition, 
the  choice  of  David,  and  the  baptism  of  John.  Christ's 
mission  was  the  crowning  act,  to  which  all  these  acts  of 
God  had  pointed,  and  for  which  they  all  prepared. 

"  The  God  of  this  people  chose  our  fathers  " — this  people, 
in  contradistinction  to  the  worshipping  proselytes,  or,  for 
the  sake  of  emphasis,  a  people  so  special  in  origin  and 
history.  Israel  did  not  choose  God,  but  God  chose  them, 
and  chose  them  neither  for  their  numbers,  intelligence, 
civilization,  nor  piety.  It  was  by  no  spirit  of  indepen- 
dence or  heroism  that  they  formed  themselves  into  a 
nation ;  but  God  organized  them.  Their  origin  was  of  His 
sovereign  choice,  without  aspiration  or  effort  of  their  own. 

The  same  God  who  had  chosen  them  "  exalted  the 
people  when  they  dwelt  as  strangers  in  the  land  of  Egypt" 
— exalted  them,  perhaps  brought  them  up,  or  perhaps  gave 
them  numbers  and  strength.  Nay  more,  the  same  God's 
"high  arm  brought  them  out"  of  Egypt.  They  did  not 
take  up  arms  and  beat  back  their  oppressors.  Their  own 
courage  did  not  secure  their  independence,  as  Scotland  did 
at  Bannockburn.  or  as  when  the  Swiss  peasantry  repelled 
the  legions  of  Austria.  They  departed  from  Egypt  without 
so  much  as  striking  a  blow  for  liberty.  The  common  motto — 

"  Who  would  be  free,  themselves  must  strike  the  blow," 

was  in  their  case  reversed.  When  they  left  they  did  not 
sharpen  their  swords,  but  they  buckled  on  their  kneading 
troughs;  they  did  not  carry  a  spear,  but  only  a  staff 
in  their  hand ;  for  plagues  in  succession  smote  Pharaoh 


WANDEEINGS   IN   THE   DESERT.  69 

and  his  people,  and  in  their  panic  they  let  Israel  go. 
The  Lord  brought  them  out  —  another  divine  interposition. 
Their  leader  was  not  a  conqueror  with  a  sword,  but  a 
shepherd  with  a  crook.  Their  prowess  did  not  break  the 
yoke,  nor  did  Pharaoh  emancipate  them  ;  but  Jehovah 
"  brought  forth  His  people  with  joy,  and  His  chosen  with 
gladness." 

And,  being  brought  out,  they  were  utterly  helpless. 
They  could  not  sustain  themselves,  and  they  had  only 
provisions  for  a  few  days'  march.  But  the  Lord  "  nursed 
them,"  as  the  proper  reading  is.  They  did  not  sow,  they 
did  not  plunder  sown  fields.  The  sands  of  Arabia  could 
supply  nothing  more  than  a  scanty  herbage  for  their  cattle. 
For  about  forty  years,  that  is,  thirty-eight  years,  were 
they  in  this  predicament.  But  the  manna  fell  around 
them,  the  water  gushed  from  the  rocks,  and  quails  flew 
into  their  camp.  The  cloud  by  day  and  pillar  of  fire  by 
night  protected  them.  The  divine  oracle  was  with  them, 
and  the  divine  hand  was  round  them.  One  day  of  their 
own  will  would  have  brought  them  into  jeopardy.  Like 
a  nurse  with  a  weak  and  wayward  child,  so  was  Jehovah 
with  them  in  their  wanderings. 

They  marched  at  length  to  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Jor- 
dan, and  under  Joshua,  crossing  it,  took  possession  of  the 
country.  The  Canaanitish  heptarchy  was  subdued,  and 
the  land  divided  equitably  and  by  lot.  They  fought, 
indeed,  against  the  aborigines,  but  their  own  bow  and 
sword  did  not  gain  them  the  victory.  Priests,  and  not 
warriors,  marched  round  Jericho;  nor  was  the  assault  made 
with  engines  of  war  ;  but  at  the  blast  of  the  rams'  horns 


70  PAUL  AT  ANTIOCH    IN   PISIDIA. 

the  walls  fell  unstruck  by  human  hand — a  symbol  of  the 
entire  conquest.     In  such  an  army  idolatry  was  as  fatal 
as  cowardice,  and  disobedience  to  God  as  bad  as  treason 
to  the  general.     The  Lord  "  destroyed  seven  nations  in 
the  land  of  Canaan."     According  to  Josh.  iii.  10,  these 
seven  nations,  so  steeped  in  odious  sins  that  they  had 
forfeited  all  right  to  their  territory,  were  the  Canaanites, 
used  there  in  a  restricted  sense  to  denote  the  tribes  that 
dwelt  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Jordan  and  the  coasts 
of  the   Mediterranean,   and   which,   from   their  numbers 
and  influence,  gave  their  name  to  the  entire  population; 
the   Hittites,  from   Hebron  to   Beersheba;   the   Hivites, 
near    Gibeon    and    toward    the    north    as   far   as   Baal- 
hermon ;  the  Perizzites,  in  the  villages  of  Jezreel ;   the 
Girgashites,   the    smallest   of   the    septs ;   the   Amorites, 
occupying  the  mountains  in  the  south,  and  stretching  to 
the  hills  of  Gilead;   and  the  Jebusites,  possessing  the 
central  territory  of  Jerusalem.     In  the  promise  given  to 
Abraham  ten  nations  are  mentioned  as  then  existing,  but 
some  of  those  earlier  aborigines  had  been  dispossessed  by 
the  Canaanites.     He  divided  their  land  by  lot,  as  recorded 
in  Joshua,  the   old  Doomsday-book  of  the   nation,  and 
the  charter  of  their  inheritance.    -The  lot  was  a  direct 
appeal  to  God,  and  was  so  sanctioned  by  Himself.     Joshua 
died,  and  the  nation  again  and  again  sank  into  anarchy. 
Each   tribe   had   its  separate   and   independent  jurisdic- 
tion, and   the   principle  of  federal   unity  was   not   fully 
recognized  nor  acted  out.     Judges  or  dictators  were  occa- 
sionally raised  up  as  exigency  required,  but  they  seldom 
had  power  over  the  entire  country.     And  even  that  form 


SAUL — DAVID.  71 

of  provisional  government  was  of  God,  not  the  result  of 
their  own  political  sagacity.  This  period  lasted  four 
hundred  and  fifty  years,  as  may  be  computed  from  the 
book  of  Judges ;  and  it  was  also  the  popular  chronology, 
as  may  be  seen  in  Josephus. 

Samuel  was  the  last  of  the  judges,  and  toward  the  close 
of  his  life,  and  from  a  combination  of  circumstances,  the 
nation  "  desired  a  king."  Samuel's  sons  did  not  walk  in 
their  father's  steps;  and  there  was  no  reason  why  they 
should  succeed  him,  the  hereditary  principle  not  being 
recognized  in  the  succession  of  the  judges.  The  nation 
had  ceased  to  leel  the  power  of  faith.  Jehovah  was  their 
first  magistrate  and  their  general-in-chief,  but  they  could 
not  endure  "as  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible."  They 
clamoured  for  a  visible  leader,  one  who,  mailed  and  hel- 
meted,  should  marshal  them  to  battle  and  victory.  On  a 
similar  principle  they  had  already  taken  the  ark  out  into 
the  camp,  as  a  palpable  token  of  the  divine  presence. 
They,  therefore,  in  demanding  a  king,  rejected  not  Samuel, 
but  God.  And  "  God  gave  unto  them  Saul,  the  son  of 
Cis,"  who  reigned  in  Samuel's  lifetime  eighteen  years,  and 
twenty-two  years  after  his  death.  The  Hebrew  king  was 
virtually  God's  lieutenant  or  representative,  raised  up  to  act 
out  or  defend  the  principles  of  the  theocracy.  Saul,  whose 
heart  was  spoiled  by  his  elevation,  in  course  of  time  did 
his  own  will,  not  God's — forgot  his  peculiar  function, 
became  disloyal  to  his  divine  Head,  and,  therefore,  He 
"removed  him,"  and  "raised  up"  the  son  of  Jesse  in  his 
room.  This  shepherd-king  was  the  most  illustrious  occu- 
pant of  the  Hebrew  throne.  The  divine  eulogy  is,  "  a  man 


72  PAUL  AT  ANTIOCH  IN  PISIDIA. 

after  mine  own  heart " — no  formal  quotation,  but  rather 
the  spirit  of  several  passages.  No  little  wit  and  malicious 
ingenuity  have  been  expended  upon  this  saying,  as  if  it 
threw  a  covering  over  David's  sins.  Primarily,  it  refers 
more  to  his  official  than  to  his  personal  character — that  he 
should  vindicate  the  theocracy,  put  down  idolatry,  make  no 
political  compromise  at  variance  with  the  Mosaic  law,  and 
confer  on  the  nation  the  possession  of  the  whole  territory 
which  God  had  given  Abraham  in  charter.  That  this  is  the 
meaning  of  the  phrase  may  be  learned  from  the  language  of 
the  book  of  Kings.  Any  future  sovereign  who  patronized 
idolatry  or  wicked  superstitions,  is  spoken  of  as  not  walking 
"with  a  perfect  heart,  like  David  his  father."  His  successors 
are  indeed  judged  of  and  praised  or  censured  according  as 
they  resembled  their  ancestor,  or  did  not  resemble  him,  in 
the  royal  care  he  took  of  the  spirituality  and  purity  of 
God's  worship.  And  when  you  look  at  David  as  a  hero, 
king,  or  saint,  and  analyse  the  various  features  of  his 
character,  and  dwell  on  his  generosity  and  prowess,  his 
forbearance  toward  Saul,  and  his  love  toward  Jonathan ; 
when  you  reflect  that  though  he  sinned,  and  sinned  so 
grievously,  he  repented,  and  mourned  and  wept  in  the 
bitterness  of  his  heart ;  when  you  think  that  but  for  his 
fall  and  his  penitence  those  psalms  had  never  been  com- 
posed— those  sighs  and  moans  of  a  broken  heart,  which 
have  been  the  voice  of  every  age  in  the  church,  the  lan- 
guage of  its  sorrow,  and  faith,  and  hopes  ;  when,  in  short, 
you  judge  the  son  of  Jesse  by  his  age  and  position — the 
true  standard  of  judgment :  who  would  hesitate  to  pro- 
nounce him  a  man  after  God's  own  heart  ? 


JOHN   THE   BAPTIST.  73 

Now,  Christ  was  "  the  root  and  branch  of  David  " — his 
branch  as  He  descended  from  him  in  human  lineage,  and  his 
root,  too ;  for,  had  it  not  been  for  the  coming  Messiah,  he 
had  never  been  enthroned.  His  family  became  a  dynasty  in 
order  that  Jesus  might  spring  out  of  it — "Of  this  man's 
seed  hath  God  raised  unto  Israel  a  Saviour,  Jesus."  Moses 
had  been  raised  up  a  saviour ;  Joshua's  very  name  implied 
his  being  one ;  each  judge  in  turn  was  a  saviour  to  his 
country ;  so  Saul  had  been  in  his  best  days,  and  so  was 
David.  But  a  Saviour  more  worthy  of  the  name  had  recently 
been  raised — Jesus — who,  himself  a  nobler  personage,  had 
achieved  a  mightier  deliverance,  and  at  a  more  awful  cost. 

Nor  did  He  come  without  a  prior  announcement.  His 
herald  prepared  the  way  for  Him,  according  to  ancient 
prediction.  The  son  of  Elisabeth  went  before  Him  "  in 
the  spirit  and  power  of  Elias."  In  dress,  manner,  and 
tone,  he  resembled  the  great  demigod  of  the  olden  time, 
whose  brow  was  clothed  with  thunder.  The  nation  was 
shaken  at  his  voice;  it  came  like  a  whirlwind  from  the 
desert  where  he  had  been  reared ;  and  as  men's  hearts 
quaked  and  hoped,  they  flocked  to  his  baptism.  Few 
ventured  to  challenge  his  divine  commission,  and  there- 
fore the  apostle  introduces  his  testimony.  His  was  a 
baptism  of  repentance  —  it  accompanied  a  profession  of 
repentance,  and  also  of  faith  in  a  coming  Messiah — repent- 
ance being  at  once  its  condition  and  its  lesson.  The  per- 
sons baptized  vowed  to  prepare  themselves  for  the  great 
advent.  John,  with  all  his  popularity,  maintained  his 
humility,  solemnly  disclaimed  being  the  Messiah,  asserted 
the  high  dignity  of  his  successor,  and  that  he  was  unworthy 


74  PAUL  AT  ANTIOCH   IN   PISIDIA. 

to  stoop  to  unstrap  His  sandals.  And  then  Jesus  came  and 
wrought  out  salvation — a  salvation  not  confined  to  the  age 
in  which  it  was  secured,  or  the  territory  on  which  it  was 
achieved.  For  the  apostle  thus  announces  his  first  appli- 
cation— "  To  you  is  the  word  of  this  salvation  sent " — this 
salvation — as  the  work  of  this  Jesus ;  and  the  word  of  it  was 
sent  by  God  and  through  Christ ;  the  past  tense  of  the 
original  verb  referring  to  the  earlier  period.  The  previous 
salvations  were  confined  in  their  efficacy.  They  affected 
but  the  generation  who  enjoyed  them,  and  the  exploits  of 
Gideon,  the  feats  of  Samson,  or  the  equitable  administra- 
tion of  Samuel  could  not  be  transplanted  to  distant  regions. 
If  men  wished  to  receive  Jewish  benefits,  they  must  travel  to 
Jewry ;  there  alone  could  such  blessings  be  of  old  enjoyed, 
and  not  in  Cyprus  or  Asia  Minor.  But  to  Jew  and  Gen- 
tile the  word  of  this  best  and  last  salvation  had  been  sent ; 
it  could  be  enjoyed  in  Pisidia  not  less  than  in  Palestine. 
It  came  to  them ;  they  needed  not  to  go  to  it.  And  to 
every  one  of  them  was  it  sent — Jew  and  proselyte,  without 
exception,  without  discrimination.  It  had  been  wrought  out 
in  Israel,  by  a  son  of  Israel,  and  for  Israel — but  for  the 
world  also,  yet  first  for  Israel.  Their  duty,  then,  was  to 
receive  the  message,  and  give  welcome  to  the  glorious 
Deliverer.  He  had  come  in  God's  name  to  save  them: 
Hosanna  to  the  Son  of  David !  To  us,  too,  the  message 
was  sent,  and  is  still  offered.  Though  He  was  a  Jew,  the 
Gentiles  are  not  neglected.  That  blood,  though  it  flowed 
from  Jewish  veins,  "  cleanseth  from  all  sin."  This  salva- 
tion is  for  thee,  whoever  thou  art — man  or  woman,  whatever 
thy  character  or  position,  thy  age  or  country,  it  is  for  thee. 


MESSAGE   OF   MERCY.  75 

Salvation  for  thee !  Burst  into  singing  at  the  intelli- 
gence; clasp  it  to  thee,  keep  it,  "let  it  not  go,  for  it  is 
thy  life."  If  not  saved,  thou  art  yet  in  danger,  and  that 
danger  is  becoming  more  and  more  imminent.  The  longer 
the  vessel  sails,  the  nearer  she  approaches  the  sunken  reef, 
unless  her  course  be  changed.  Every  step  which  the  blind 
wanderer  takes,  brings  him  nearer  the  precipice,  unless  he 
accept  the  friendly  warning  and  turn  away.  If  salvation 
has  been  provided,  and  be  offered,  and  be  within  reach, 
surely  it  becomes  us  to  respond  and  lay  hold  on  it,  and  by 
faith  make  it  our  own.  Britain  owes  its  superiority  to 
Madagascar,  because  to  its  inhabitants  these  words  have 
been  verified — "  To  you  is  the  word  of  this  salvation  sent." 
More  earnest  improvement  of  the  privilege  is  yet  demanded 
of  us.  If  the  word  of  salvation  be  sent  and  not  received, 
sent  and  only  scorned,  sent  and  made  a  theme  of  curious 
inquiry,  and  not  an  object  of  faith;  shall  not  God  feel 
that  it  has  been  missent,  and  may  He  not  withdraw  it? 
Already,  and  in  other  lands,  He  has  done  this  work  of 
judgment ;  and  may  He  not  be  provoked  to  repeat  it  ?  If 
we  are  guilty — 

"What  better  can  we  do  than  prostrate  fall 
Before  Him,  reverent,  and  there  confess 
Humbly  our  faults,  and  pardon  beg  with  tears 
Watering  the  ground  ?  " 

The  next  portion  of  the  address  demonstrates  the 
Messiahship  from  Old  Testament  proofs.  The  apostle 
thus  proceeds — 

"  For  they  that  dwell  in  Jerusalem,  and  their  rulers,  not 
having  recognized  Him,  and  having  condemned 


76  PAUL  AT  ANTIOCH  IN  PISIDIA. 

fulfilled  the  voices  of  the  prophets  read  every  Sabbath. 
And  having  found  (when  they  found)  against  Him  no 
cause  of  death,  they  asked  Pilate  that  he  should  be  slain ; 
and  when  they  had  accomplished  all  the  things  written 
concerning  Him,  having  taken  Him  down  from  the  tree, 
they  laid  Him  in  a  tomb.  But  God  raised  Him  from  the 
dead.  And  He  was  seen  for  many  days  by  them  who 
came  up  with  Him  from  Galilee  to  Jerusalem,  who  at  this 
moment  are  His  witnesses  before  the  people.  And  we 
declare  unto  you  the  glad  tidings,  to  wit,  the  promise  made 
to  the  fathers,  that  God  hath  fulfilled  it  to  us  their  chil- 
dren, in  that  He  hath  raised  up  Jesus  again ;  as  it  is  also 
written  in  the  first  psalm — '  Thou  art  my  Son,  this  day  I 
have  begotten  thee.'  And  that  He  raised  Him  from  the 
dead,  as  one  who  should  no  more  return  to  corruption, 
He  thus  said — '  I  will  give  you  the  promises,  holy  and 
sure,  made  to  David.7  Wherefore  also  he  saith  in  another 
psalm — 'Thou  shalt  not  suffer  Thine  Holy  One  to  see 
corruption.'  For  David  after  he  had  served  the  will  of 
God  for  his  own  generation,  fell  on  sleep,  and  was  laid 
unto  his  fathers,  and  saw  corruption ;  but  He  whom  God 
raised  up  again,  did  not  see  corruption." 

The  word  of  that  salvation  was  sent  to  the  Jews  and 
proselytes  of  Pisidia,  for  this  reason  among  others,  that 
Jerusalem,  both  rulers  and  population,  had  rejected  it.  It 
was  offered  to  them,  and  they  would  not  have  it.  The 
Sanhedrim  had  set  it  at  nought ;  the  metropolis  had  refused 
it  Thus  the  apostle  explains  his  anomalous  position ;  how 
he  a  stranger  to  them  had  travelled  so  far  to  make  them 
such  an  offer — an  offer  of  a  deliverance  not  confined  to 


UNJUST  SENTENCE  OF  THE  SANHEDRIM.  77 

Israel  in  Palestine,  but  extending  to  the  children  of  the 
covenant  in  every  region.  And  lest  they  should  contract 
any  suspicions  against  his  message,  from  the  fact  that  the 
central  spiritual  authority  of  their  nation  had  refused  it, 
the  apostle  shows  them  how,  even  in  this  unbelief,  their 
own  oracles  had  been  fulfilled.  To  the  wisdom  of  their 
high  council  they  might  be  apt  to  bow,  and  its  decision  in 
a  matter  of  supreme  importance  they  would  be  inclined  to 
take,  for  it  was  upon  the  spot ;  and  having  all  the  evidence 
in  its  hands,  would,  as  they  fondly  imagined,  examine  it 
without  prejudice,  and  come  to  a  conclusion  that  courted 
scrutiny  and  defied  appeal.  The  apostle  therefore  asserts, 
that  in  doing  what  they  did,  in  acting  out  their  pleasure 
and  condemning  Jesus,  they  fulfilled  the  prophecies. 

The  rulers,  or  the  majority  of  the  Sanhedrim,  condemned 
Jesus,  and  the  populace  was  at  one  with  them.  "Hosanna" 
they  shouted  to-day,  and  with  equal  sincerity,  "  Crucify 
Him"  to-morrow.  Strange  it  is  that  He  should  be  thus 
condemned ;  this  prince  of  preachers,  who  "  spake  as  never 
man  spake;"  this  greatest  of  wonder-workers,  who  did  as 
never  man  did ;  this  purest  of  saints,  who  lived  as  never 
man  lived ;  and  this  noblest  of  benefactors,  who  gave  as 
never  man  gave — blessings  in  freest  form,  and  for  highest 
ends,  in  crowded  succession.  But  they  sat  in  trial  upon 
Him,  and  they  condemned  Him.  It  was  but  a  mockery  of 
judgment.  Not  only  was  the  spirit  of  law  violated,  but 
its  forms  were  set  at  nought;  the  safeguards  which  pro- 
tect justice  and  liberty  were  broken  through.  Caiaphas 
had  arrived  at  a  foregone  conclusion,  which  no  amount 
of  opposing  evidence  could  shake.  u  It  is  expedient  that 


78  PAUL  AT  ANTIOCH   IN   PISIDIA. 

one  man  should  die,"  said  the  crafty  placeholder,  and  Jesus 
was  sacrificed  to  that  expediency.  Blood  must  be  shed  to 
propitiate  the  jealous  Roman  power,  and  His  was  selected 
as  the  political  libation.  The  people  acquiesced  in  the 
decision  of  the  rulers.  They  knew  Him  not — in  His 
origin,  claims,  and  mission,  recognized  Him  not  as  the 
Messiah.  They  could  not  discover  the  promised  Deliverer 
in  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  He  did  not  correspond  to  their 
anticipations.  He  disappointed  them,  and  so  the  Saviour 
of  men  became  the  rejected  of  men.  As  our  version  reads, 
the  apostle  says  that  they  also  knew  not  the  voices  of  the 
prophets ;  that  is,  they  misinterpreted  their  own  oracles, 
applying  them  to  political  liberation  and  national  bless- 
ing. Had  only  a  solitary  voice  been  heard  on  this  theme 
in  Jerusalem,  and  its  echo  borne  to  Galilee ;  or  had  the 
sacred  roll  been  opened  but  once  in  a  century,  leaving  the 
intervening  years  to  the  faint  and  yet  fainter  record  of 
tradition — there  might  have  been  some  excuse.  But  the 
prophets  were  read  in  the  synagogues  every  Sabbath  day  / 
the  prophetical  books  being  so  divided  that  week  after 
week  their  voice  was  heard,  and  in  a  year  all  of  them  were 
gone  through.  But  they  were  misinterpreted.  This  version, 
however,  is  somewhat  cumbrous  and  involved,  and  demands 
the  repetition  of  an  object  for  the  verb  "fulfilled."  We 
regard  the  apostle  as  saying,  "For  they  who  dwell  in 
Jerusalem  and  their  rulers,  not  recognizing  Him,  and  having 
condemned  Him,  fulfilled  the  declarations  of  the  prophets 
read  every  Sabbath  day."  Still,  the  meaning  is  not  very 
different.  They  fulfilled  the  prophecies  because  they  were 
in  ignorance  of  them.  They  were  working  out  their  own 


FULFILMENT   OF    PROPHECY.  79 

unhallowed  inclinations  when  they  were  embodying  in 
action  these  ancient  sayings.  When  they  knew  Him 
not,  they  realized  the  prediction — "  There  is  no  form  nor 
comeliness  that  we  should  desire  Him."  In  their  con- 
demning Him  was  verified  the  oracle — "He  was  oppressed 
and  he  was  afflicted."  Their  placing  His  cross  between 
those  of  the  two  thieves  brought  to  pass  that  "voice" — 
"  And  he  was  numbered  among  transgressors."  When  He 
was  laid  in  Joseph's  grave,  the  divine  declaration  was 
confirmed — "  And  he  was  with  a  rich  man  in  His  death." 
Thus,  the  apostle  alleges  that,  in  condemning  Jesus,  his 
enemies  fulfilled  the  prophecies — acted  as  unwitting  instru- 
ments in  giving  reality  to  inspired  oracle — so  that  the 
Pisidian  synagogue  was  not  to  be  swayed  by  the  metro- 
politan bench ;  rather  were  the  results  of  their  enmity  so 
many  proofs  of  the  divine  origin  and  truth  of  Christianity. 
They  did  simply  as  it  had  been  foretold,  though  they  did 
not  intend  it.  For,  it  is  one  thing  to  read  the  scriptures, 
but  a  different  thing  to  understand  them.  One  may 
apprehend  their  general  historical  contents,  and  yet  fail  to 
perceive  their  spiritual  import  and  beauty.  They  can  only 
be  understood  in  their  relationship  to  Christ  the  Saviour, 
and  they  produce  spiritual  benefit  just  in  so  far  as  they 
reveal  to  the  heart  the  glory  and  power  of  Christ;  His 
infinite  love  to  move  it,  and  His  atoning  death  on  which  it 
can  securely  rely.  One  may  admire  the  gospels  as  a 
biography  of  rare  simplicity  and  tenderness,  but  more  is 
needed  than  delight  in  the  composition — faith  must  be 
added  to  the  gratification  of  taste.  The  pen  of  the  evan- 
gelist may  fascinate,  but  the  Redeemer's  cross  must  be  the 


80  PAUL  AT  ANTIOCH   IN   PISIDIA. 

one  object  of  an  adoring  confidence.  "  Search  the  scrip- 
tures, for  in  them  ye  think  ye  have  eternal  life,  and  they 
are  they  which  testify  of  Me." 

The  apostle  does  not  enter  on  the  question  of  their 
criminality,  nor  take  up  the  theory  of  their  responsibility. 
He  would  not  discuss  a  metaphysical  problem  as  to 
man's  moral  freedom  when  he  acts  in  a  path  predicted 
for  him,  and  engages  in  actions  the  time,  mode,  and 
results  of  which  have  been  already  portrayed.  The 
scene  was  one  of  necessity — the  mouth  of  the  Lord  had 
spoken  it — but  it  was  a  necessity  consistent  with  most 
perfect  liberty.  The  rulers  and  people  were  in  no  way 
constrained ;  they  had  no  sense  of  compulsion ;  they  were 
in  no  form  led  or  lured  by  a  controlling  power.  They  had 
their  own  motives,  motives  springing  out  of  their  associa- 
tions and  judgments,  and  these  they  allowed  freely  and 
fully  to  sway  them.  Never  is  prophecy  the  rule  of  duty  ; 
ethics  are  a  present  obligation,  wholly  disconnected  with 
the  divine  prescience  and  its  foreshadowings.  My  duty  is 
not  sketched  by  the  Spirit's  pencillings,  but  prescribed  by 
the  Spirit's  words.  It  is  with  injunction,  not  with  predic- 
tion, that  I  have  to  do.  God  will  take  care  of  His  own 
plans,  but  I  am  charged  with  the  purity  of  my  own 
motives  and  actions.  What  I  should  be,  is  my  question, 
apart  from  what  shall  be  in  the  drama  acting  around  me. 
The  men  who  condemned  Jesus  cannot  be  assoilzied  because 
through  them  prophecy  was  fulfilled,  and  life  brought  to 
the  world.  No,  the  Pharisees  writhed  under  exposure, 
the  Sadducees  hated  religious  stir,  Judas  grasped  the 
money,  Pilate  loved  his  place,  the  crowd  raged  in  chagrin 


"CRUCIFY  HIM."  81 

and  disappointment ;  and  the  result  of  these  combined  and 
opposite  causes  was,  that  Jesus  was  condemned  and  put  to 
death,  in  fulfilment  of  "  all  that  was  written  of  Him." 

Nay,  their  criminality  was  of  deepest  dye.  They  found 
no  cause  of  death  in  Him— nothing  worthy  of  capital  punish- 
ment, and  therefore  they  desired  Pilate  to  have  him  taken 
off.  Could  they  have  so  arraigned  Him  as  by  a  common 
judicial  process  to  have  condemned  Him,  then  they  would 
not  have  resorted  to  clamour  for  His  death,  or  asked  it  as 
a  favour  from  a  heathen  governor.  They  tried  Him  on  a 
charge  of  blasphemy,  and,  though  bolstered  up  by  false 
witnesses,  it  failed  on  cross-examination — "their  witness 
did  not  agree."  They  laboured  to  induce  Him  to  inculpate 
Himself,  and  from  one  of  His  declarations  they  professed 
to  recoil  in  horror,  and  to  convict  Him  of  blasphemy.  But 
they  had  lost  what  is  technically  called  the  power  of  life 
and  death,  and  though  they  might  pronounce  a  capital 
sentence,  they  could  not  inflict  it.  It  must  be  ratified  by 
the  procurator  ere  it  could  be  executed.  Honest  judges  on 
going  to  him  would  have  shown  him  what  the  evidence 
was,  and  how  it  supported  the  conclusion  at  which  they 
had  arrived.  But  the  Sanhedrim,  on  approaching  Pilate, 
did  not  venture  to  substantiate  the  charge  of  blasphemy 
before  him ;  they  cuningly  shifted  their  ground,  and 
accused  Him  of  political  crime.  But  the  accusation  of 
treason  could  not  be  at  all  brought  home  to  Him.  They 
then  stooped  to  clamour  and  vociferation,  and  by  influ- 
encing the  selfish  and  timid  mind  of  Pilate,  they  obtained 
their  end.  On  every  appeal  that  he  made  to  them,  they 
cried  out  the  more  "  crucify  Him."  They  would  not  have 

F 


82  PAUL  AT  ANTIOCH  IN  PISIDIA. 

deigned  to  do  this  if  other  and  more  plausible  means 
could  have  secured  their  purpose.  But,  in  spite  of  His 
innocence,  they  were  resolved  on  His  death,  their  tumultu- 
ous cry  prevailed,  and  Pilate,  against  his  own  conviction, 
gave  way.  But  prophecy  was  coming  into  act,  as  Jesus 
was  condemned,  scourged,  mocked,  crucified,  and  Iburied. 
His  death,  in  itself  and  its  concomitants,  was  a  signal 
fulfilment  of  prediction,  verifying  the  "  things  concerning 
Him  "  in  the  law,  the  prophets,  and  the  psalms. 

Jesus  was  taken  down  from  the  tree  after  there  remained 
no  doubt  that  He  was  dead.  They — that  is,  the  rulers  and 
dwellers  in  Jerusalem — took  Him  down  ;  the  burial  as  well 
as  the  death  is,  in  the  popular  construction  of  the  sentence, 
ascribed  to  them.  The  same  persons  that  crucified  our 
Lord  did  not,  indeed,  entomb  Him ;  though,  certainly,  the 
Jewish  rulers  took  care  that,  if  they  did  not  bury  Him,  His 
grave  should  be  jealously  watched.  They  thought,  indeed, 
that  His  cause  and  claims  were  buried  along  with  Him,  and 
they  did  not  expect  a  resuscitation.  The  burial  was  also 
an  indispensable  step  to  the  resurrection ;  a  proof  of  the 
reality  of  His  death,  and  necessary  as  a  palpable  evidence 
of  His  being  brought  back  to  life.  His  second  life  on  earth 
was  not  simply  a  revival — as  with  the  daughter  of  Jairus — 
for  its  reality  might  have  been  impugned,  but  it  was  a 
resurrection,  for  He  was  openly  laid  in  the  sepulchre,  and 
His  grave  guarded  by  sentinels.  Thus  did  men  act  toward 
Him  :  condemn  Him,  slay  Him,  and  bury  Him.  It  was  a 
dark  period,  that  of  His  abode  in  the  tomb.  %  Enemies 
rejoiced  and  friends  desponded,  "trusting  it  had  been  He 
who  should  have  redeemed  Israel."  That  was  a  myste- 


THE  EMPTY  SEPULCHRE.  83 

rious  Sabbath  during  which  He  lay  under  the  power  of 
death — the  light  of  men  in  the  gloom  of  the  sepulchre,  the 
life  of  the  world  a  lifeless  corpse ;  He  who  promised  that 
any  one  believing  on  Him  should  never  die,  had  Himself 
died  and  gone  to  the  grave.  The  sun  was  under  eclipse, 
and  a  deep  shadow  fell  on  the  earth. 

On  the  other  hand,  "  God  raised  Him  from  the  dead," 
men  buried  Him,  but  God  raised  Him :  and  the  best  proof 
that  He  did  rise  is  His  being  seen,  and  seen  "  many  days," 
of  them  that  had  been  familiar  with  Him,  and  who  could  not 
be  mistaken  in  His  appearance  and  identity.  The  apostle 
here  probably  refers  to  the  eleven,  and  the  early  band  of 
believers,  those  who  accompanied  Him  from  Galilee  to 
Jerusalem  on  His  last  journey.  He  appeared  often  to  the 
apostles,  and  also  to  above  five  hundred  brethren  at  once. 
Peter  has  the  same  line  of  proof — He  appeared  "  not  to  all 
the  people,  but  unto  witnesses  chosen  before  of  God,  even 
to  us  who  did  eat  and  drink  with  Him  after  He  rose  from 
the  dead."  To  have  appeared  in  a  crowd  who  could  not 
identify  Him  would  have  been  no  proof,  and  therefore  the 
eleven  were  signally  honoured.  And  they  were  not  con- 
cealing their  testimony.  The  Pisidian  Jews  might  ask 
whether,  in  the  very  focus  of  these  wonders,  the  same  word 
of  salvation  was  proclaimed,  and  the  apostle  tells  them  that 
the  chosen  people  in  Palestine  were  amply  supplied  with 
eye-witnesses  of  these  awful  realities.  They  could  not  but 
speak  the  things  they  "had  seen  and  heard,"  and  while 
they  were  "  His  witnesses  unto  the  people  "  in  Palestine, 
the  apostle  says  for  himself  and  his  colleague — 

"  We  declare  unto  you  glad  tidings,  how  that  the  promise 


84  PAUL  AT  ANTIOCH  IN  PISIDIA. 

which  was  made  unto  the  fathers,  the  same  God  hath  ful- 
filled unto  us  their  children,  in  that  He  hath  raised  up  Jesus 
again."  That  gospel  should  be  no  novelty  to  the  Hebrew 
mind,  it  was  but  the  fulfilment  of  a  promise  long  ago 
made — a  promise  the  Hebrew  nation  had  for  centuries  clung 
to,  and  fondly  prayed  over.  That  a  Deliverer  should  come 
to  them  and  of  them,  was  the  voice  of  their  prophets  and 
the  song  of  their  bards ;  the  testimony  of  Jesus  was  the 
spirit  of  prophecy ;  and  if  the  promise  was  in  itself  of  such 
moment,  as  being  God's  highest  gift ;  if  it  was  the  text  of 
inspired  men  for  more  than  two  thousand  years  ;  if  they 
were  raised  up  from  time  to  time  to  repeat,  confirm,  and 
illustrate  it;  if  the  nation  lived  by  the  hope  of  it,  and 
anxiously  longed  for  the  period  when  it  should  be  realized, 
now,  when  it  had  come  to  pass,  they  were  surely  to  hail  its 
fulfilment  as  glad  tidings.  Israel  had  lived  on  promise — 
the  Christian  church  is  sustained  by  facts.  The  world  was 
never  left  without  hope,  but  it  was  long  "  hope  deferred." 
The  first  promise  was  made  in  Eden,  but  Adam  died,  and 
yet  the  "  Seed  of  the  woman"  had  not  bruised  the  Serpent's 
head.  Abraham  and  the  patriarchs  passed  away,  and 
still  the  Blessing  of  all  nations  had  not  appeared.  Moses 
and  his  successors  in  judgment  left  the  world,  but  the 
Prophet  like  unto  him  had  given  no  utterance.  David 
and  his  royal  sons  were  carried  to  the  tomb  of  the  kings, 
and  yet  his  throne  was  not  filled  by  his  Son  and  Lord. 
Isaiah  sang,  but  his  melody  was  inspired  by  the  future ; 
the  tears  of  Jeremiah  fell  on  unrepaired  desolations ;  the 
thunders  of  Habbakkuk  died  away  in  the  distance ;  Daniel 
pictured  revolutions,  but  they  were  only  shakings  prepara- 


GLAD   TIDINGS.  85 

tory  to  the  era  of  universal  peace ;  Haggai  portrayed  the 
glory  of  the  second  temple,  but  its  courts  had  not  been 
trodden  by  "  the  Desire  of  all  nations."  -No  wonder  that, 
when  a  promise  so  often  made,  on  which  so  much 
depended,  and  which  was  so  deeply  cherished  as  the 
hearts'  life  of  the  nation,  was  fulfilled,  the  news  should  be 
styled  "  THE  GLAD  TIDINGS."  The  suspense  of  four  thou- 
sand years  was  removed  when  the  babe  was  born  in 
Bethlehem.  The  children  reaped  what  the  fathers  had 
sowed — glad  tidings  truly ;  news  such  as  had  never  before 
been  proclaimed ;  not  political  deliverance,  nor  triumph 
over  oppressors — good  news  for  a  downtrodden  people ;  not 
the  mission  of  Joshua  to  settle,  of  Gideon  to  smite,  or  of 
Samuel  to  rule,  but  salvation — freedom  from  the  worst  of 
evils,  sin  and  death ;  restoration  to  the  divine  favour  and 
image,  fully  provided,  freely  offered,  and  certainly  enjoyed 
by  every  one  who  believes  the  blessed  intelligence. 

What  emotions  should  not  such  tidings  stir  up  within  us ! 
Speak  to  Poland  of  resuscitation,  and  it  surges  into  armed 
fury ;  whisper  to  Hungary  of  independence,  and  its  valleys 
burst  into  a  warlike  song ;  inform  the  patriot  of  his  country's 
danger,  and  his  eyes  flash  out  his  nobleness  of  soul  ,*  proclaim 
to-night  the  discovery  of  a  gold  field  to  a  city,  and  the  news 
empties  it  of  all  its  able-bodied  men  before  the  sunrise  of 
to-morrow ;  let  the  warder,  as  he  walks  the  ramparts,  tell 
the  blockaded  town,  stricken  with  hunger  and  pestilence, 
and  the  living  scarce  sufficing  to  bury  the  dead,  that  he 
sees  the  glittering  banners  of  a  relieving  army  drawn 
on  the  distant  evening  sky,  and  the  populace  cannot 
sleep  for  joy.  Were  we  really  alive  to  our  state,  did  we 


86  PAUL  AT  ANTIOCH   IN   PISIDIA. 

turn  our  gaze  within,  and  did  we,  as  we  survey  that  spirit- 
ual havoc  which  sin  has  wrought,  shudder  at  the  danger 
which  it  has  entailed;  did  we  feel  that  no  hand  can  rectify 
those  disorders  but  His  who  made  us,  and  did  we  remem- 
ber that  all  depends  on  such  a  change  produced  by  Him, 
and  that  the  moral  wreck  untouched  is  hell  begun  and  to 
gather  in  fierceness — O  would  we  not  cheerfully  accept,  as 
glad  tidings,  the  advent  of  One  who  knows  and  pities  us ; 
who  blesses  and  saves  us ;  whose  blood  pardons,  and  whose 
Spirit  transforms;  who  produces  a  mighty  revolution 
within  us,  bringing  with  it  the  germ,  as  it  reveals  the 
certainty,  of  everlasting  life  ?  And  yet,  alas,  how  often  are 
such  tidings  received  with  indifference  or  contempt,  scarcely 
exciting  attention,  as  if  they  were  indifferent  trifles,  or  were 
melancholy  in  their  contents.  Let  those  who  hear  them 
receive  them  as  true  tidings,  and  welcome  them  as  glad 
tidings :  that  the  peace  and  joy  of  the  gospel  may  fill  their 
hearts;  and  that  they  may  learn  to  "joy  in  God  through 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  Comprehend  the  good  news  and 
their  adaptation  to  you.  Bless  God  for  them,  and  walk 
in  the  spirit  of  them.  Beyond  the  tomb  there  is  no  such 
message.  No  herald  there  makes  proclamation  of  respite, 
or  pardon,  or  amelioration,  or  end. 

The  apostle  is  addressing  Jews,  and  he  gives  point  and 
pith  to  his  appeal  by  references  to  the  Old  Testament,  not 
for  illustration,  but  for  argument.  Christianity  is  regarded 
by  him  as  the  crown  and  realization  of  Judaism.  The 
career  of  Christ  was  but  the  fulfilment  of  an  old  promise. 
The  speaker  then  refers  to  some  elements  of  that  promise, 
and  his  first  quotation  is  taken  from  the  first  psalm,  which 


THE  SECOND  PSALM.  87 

is  reckoned  the  second  in  our  notation — "Thou  art  my  Son; 
this  day  have  I  begotten  Thee."  The  words  have  been 
variously  understood,  both  in  their  dogmatic  and  historical 
reference.  Not  a  few  regard  them  as  distinctly  pointing  to 
the  resurrection,  giving  the  verb  the  sense  of  "  raised  up 
again,"  and  verifying  the  interpretation  by  what  Paul  else- 
where says — "  Declared  to  be  the  son  of  God  ...  by 
the  resurrection  from  the  dead."  But  we  apprehend  that 
the  apostle  comes  not  to  any  argument  about  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Jesus  till  the  following  verse.  He  appears  in  this 
verse  to  look  upon  the  quotation  as  proving  His  sonship, 
by  showing  Christ's  exaltation  to  universal  sovereignty. 

Let  us  revert  to  the  second  psalm,  and  contemplate  for  a 
moment  its  occasion  and  scope.  The  point  of  view  which 
the  inspired  bard  assumes,  is  the  period  of  the  crucifixion — 
when  the  city  of  Jerusalem  is  in  uproar,  and  foreigners  and 
natives  are  seen  to  be  in  unnatural  league  against  Messiah. 
The  poet's  eye  surveys  the  tumult  in  which  Jew  and 
heathen  so  strangely  unite,  and  he  exclaims  in  wonder — 

"  Why  do  the  heathen  rage,  and  the  people  imagine  a  vain  thing ; 
The  kings  of  the  earth  set  themselves,  and  the  rulers  take  counsel  together, 
Against  Jehovah  and  against  His  Messiah." 

At  an  early  period  in  the  history  of  the  church  those 
words  were  thus  interpreted — "Of  a  truth,  against  Thy 
Holy  child  Jesus  both  Herod  and  Pontius  Pilate,  with  the 
Gentiles  and  the  people  of  Israel,  were  gathered  together." 
The  description  is  thus  literally  correct ;  the  "  heathen  "  or 
Koman  power;  "the  people"  or  Jews;  "kings  "and  "rulers" 
or  Herod  and  Pilate — were  combined  against  the  Son  of 


88  PAUL  AT  ANTiOCH  IN  PISIDIA. 

God,  and  resolved  to  triumph  over  Him.  And  the  watch- 
cry  of  the  conspirators  is — 

"  Let  us  break  His  bands  asunder,  and  cast  away  His  cords  from  us." 

But  their -machinations  are  so  utterly  futile,  that  Jehovah 
only  smiles  at  them,  for  they  are  but  as  the  child's  hand 
spread  out  to  stem  the  rising  tide  : — 

"  He  that  sits  in  heaven  shall  laugh, 
Jehovah  shall  have  them  in  scorn." 

And  the  reason  is,  that  the  Messiah's  government  is 
founded  by  Jehovah,  and  therefore  cannot  be  shaken : — 

"  I  have  set  my  king  upon  my  holy  hill  of  Zion." 

And  He  who  has  been  enthroned  beyond  the  reach  of 
revolution,  avouches  His  confidence  thus : — 

"  I  will  declare  the  decree :  Jehovah  hath  said  to  me, 
Thou  art  My  Son,  this  day  1  have  begotten  Thee." 

In  spite  of  every  opposition  He  has  been  enthroned  on 
the  holy  hill  of  God,  and  in  that  inauguration  an  earlier 
decree  has  been  fulfilled,  as  some  think ;  while  in  their  opinion 
the  term  "to-day"  does  not  specify  the  time  when  the 
decree  is  now  declared,  but  when  it  was  first  promulgated  j 
that  it  does  not  mean  that  the  birth  and  the  investiture 
of  royalty  are  in  any  sense  contemporary  events,  or  that 
the  Messiah  was  begotten  on  the  day  He  was  crowned;, 
but  that  the  sonship  is  eternal.  The  meaning,  however, 
seems  to  be  that  the  Father  owned  Jesus  for  His  Son,  and 
that  this  sonship  was  openly  and  publicly  evinced  when 
He  rose  to  the  throne.  It  was  true  at  the  incarnation, 


GOD'S  SON   UPON  HIS  THRONE.  89 

when  the  infant  lay  in  the  manger ;  but  its  reality  was  not 
fully  and  finally  manifested  till  God  made  Him  His  King 
over  His  holy  hill  of  Zion.  Solomon's  sonship  was  always 
a  fact,  but  it  was  formally  avowed  when  David  set  him 
apart  as  his  royal  successor.  The  incarnate  Jesus  is  the 
Son  of  God,  and  that  sonship  is  solemnly  proclaimed  in  His 
exaltation  by  the  Father  to  His  own  right  hand.  Accord- 
ing to  a  common  Hebrew  usage,  to  do  a  thing  is  to  declare 
it  to  be  done.  Thus  in  Peter's  vision  it  is  said,  What 
God  has  cleansed,  that  do  not  thou  pollute ;  that  is,  do 
not  call  or  reckon  it  unclean.  Thou  art  my  Son,  to-day 
have  I  declared  Thee  begotten  of  Me — evinced  Thy  son- 
ship  by  raising  Thee  to  the  kingdom,  co-enthroned  with 
Myself. 

The  relation  of  the  Messiah  to  God  is  that  of  Son,  "  first- 
born," and  "only-begotten."  As  Son  He  always  recognized 
His  Father — again  and  again  referred  to  Him  under  that 
appellation.  "  My  Father  worketh  hitherto ;"  "  the  Father 
loveth  the  Son  ;"  "  I  am  in  the  Father;"  "  I  came  forth 
from  the  Father ; "  "I  leave  the  world  and  go  to  the 
Father;"  "I  speak  that  which  I  have  seen  with  My 
Father;"  "I  and  My  Father  are  one;"  "0,  Father^ 
glorify  thou  Me  with  Thine  own  self;"  "I  thank  thee, 
O  Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth;"  "no  man  knoweth 
the  Father  but  the  Son;"  "even  so,  Father;"  "  Father, 
if  it  be  possible,  let  this  cup  pass  from  me;"  "Father, 
glorify  thy  name ;"  "  Father,  forgive  them ; "  and  "  Father, 
into  thy  hands  I  commend  My  spirit;"  In  the  words 
spoken,  deeds  done,  prayers  offered,  and  sufferings  endured 
by  Him,  he  ever  recognized  his  relation  to  the  Father  as 


90  PAUL   AT  ANTIOCH  IN   PISIDIA. 

His  Son,  His  only-begotten  Son,  so  loved  by  Him  as  to 
be  the  Son  of  His  bosom,  and  so  like  Him  that  he  could  say 
— "  He  who  hath  seen  Me  hath  seen  the  Father."  His 
work  being  over,  having  done  His  Father's  will,  he  enjoyed 
His  reward.  The  Father  "raised  him  up  from  the  dead 
and  gave  Him  glory ; "  and  as  the  Son  of  that  Father  He  sits 
upon  the  throne.  The  Son  of  God  incarnate  and  suffering, 
the  Son  of  God  exalted  and  reigning  in  token  of  God's 
approval  of  His  work,  are  the  doctrine  of  this  quotation. 
The  promise  given  to  the  fathers  had  been  fulfilled  to  the 
children  in  the  life  and  royalty  of  Christ  Jesus.  Infinite 
truth  has  kept  its  pledge ;  the  Son  of  His  bosom  is  now 
His  Kegent ;  Christ  is  Governor,  because  He  has  been 
Saviour. 

The  orator  now  proceeds  formally  to  the  resurrection — 
not  to  prove  it,  since  he  had  done  that  already  in-the  thirty- 
first  verse,  but  to  demonstrate  from  it  Christ's  superiority 
to  death ;  for  He  was  "  no  more  to  return  to  corruption  "- 
to  be  entombed.  Christ  died  once,  but  He  shall  not  die 
again.  He  lay  in  the  grave  once,  but  shall  no  more  descend 
to  it.  When  the  apostle  uses  the  words — "no  more  to  return 
to  corruption,"  he  speaks  popularly,  and  does  not  mean  that 
Christ  had  already  been  in  corruption  5  for  he  proceeds  to 
affirm  that  He  did  not  see  corruption.  The  meaning  is, 
that  Jesus  will  never  again  be  in  a  place  where  corruption 
might  be  anticipated  of  Him,  or  where  He  might  be  exposed 
to  it.  The  point  of  the  argument  here  is  not  that  He  rose, 
but  that  He  rose  never  again  to  die.  The  son  of  the  widow 
of  Nam  might  die,  and  again  be  carried  by  mourners  to  his 
long  home,  and  Lazarus  might  be  a  second  time  interred ; 


SURE  MERCIES  OF   DAVID.  91 

but  Christ,  being  once  raised  from  the  dead,  "  dieth  no 
more :  death  hath  no  more  dominion  over  Him."  He  1*3 
endowed  with  "  an  endless  life."  His  work  on  earth  being 
over,  He  rose  to  immortal  reward.  And,  to  prove  this 
truth,  the  apostle  reverts  to  quotation — "  I  will  give  you 
the  sure  mercies  of  David;"  literally,  sure  holy  things; 
that  is,  holy  promises  of  perfect  security.  The  adjective 
rendered  "mercies"  signifies  rather  things  sacred  from  their 
connection  with  God.  The  promise  made  to  David  was 
sure,  trusty,  or  inviolable ;  it  was  sacred,  as  being  divine 
in  origin,  and  relating  to  a  divine  person.  What,  then, 
is  the  meaning  of  the  quotation,  and  what  the  proof  it 
affords  of  the  apostle's  statement  ? 

The  quotation,  with  only  as  much  variation  as  serves 
to  introduce  it,  is  taken  from  Isaiah  Iv.  3 ;  and  the  phrase 
"  sure  mercies"  is  narrowed  to  a  personal  reference  in 
the  next  verse — "  Behold,  I  have  given  Him  for  a  witness 
to  the  people."  The  sure  and  sacred  pledge  is  connected 
with  the  gift  and  appointment  of  Messiah,  or  is  identical 
with  it ;  and  it  is  the  "  sure  mercies  of  David,"  because  it 
was  solemnly  promised  to  him,  and  realized  in  connec- 
tion with  his  family — his  "  house  and  lineage."  Isaiah's 
allusion  is  to  the  oracle  of  Nathan,  as  recorded  in  2  Sam. 
vii.  13 — 16  :  "  He  shall  build  an  house  for  my  name;  and 
I  will  stablish  the  throne  of  his  kingdom  for  ever.  I  will 
be  his  father,  and  he  shall  be  my  son.  If  he  commit 
iniquity,  I  will  chasten  him  with  the  rod  of  men,  and 
with  the  stripes  of  the  children  of  men:  but  my  mercy 
shall  not  depart  away  from  him,  as  I  took  it  from  Saul, 
whom  I  put  away  before  thee.  And  thine  house  and  thy 


92  PAUL  AT  ANTIOCH  IN  PISIDIA. 

kingdom  shall  be  established  for  ever  before   thee:  thy 
throne  shall  be  established  for  ever." 

The  spirit  of  this  prediction  is,  that  David's  dynasty  shall 
continue — that  his  throne  shall  be  filled,  and  filled  for  ever, 
by  the  last  and  most  illustrious  of  his  sons.     The  eye  of 
the  seer  did  not  regard  David's  seed  only  for  a  few  genera- 
tions, or  as  ending  with  Zedekiah  whom  Nebuchadnezzar 
carried  captive  to  Babylon ;  but  it  comprised  in  one  vast 
perspective  all  his  sons,  till  the  line  was  seen  to  end  in 
Jesus,  to  whom  "  the  Lord  God  shall  give  the  throne  of 
His  father  David,  and  He  shall  reign  over  the  house  of 
Jacob  for  ever."    The  throne  so  filled  is  never  to  be  vacated, 
but  to  be  established  for  ever.     The  89th  psalm  is  a  poem 
on  this  old  covenant: — "I  will  sing  of  the  mercies  of  the  Lord 
for  ever ;  with  my  mouth  will  I  make  known  thy  faithful- 
ness to  all  generations.     For  I  have  said,  Mercy  shall  be 
built  up  for  ever ;  thy  faithfulness  shalt  thou  establish  in 
the  very   heavens.     I  have   made  a  covenant   with   my 
chosen,  I  have  sworn  unto  David  my  servant — Thy  seed 
will  I  establish  for  ever,  and  build  up  thy  throne  to  all 
generations.      Selah.      And  the  heavens  shall  praise  thy 
wonders,  0  Lord  •  thy  faithfulness  also  in  the  congregation 
of  the  saints."    Such,  then,  are  "the  sure  mercies  of  David  " 
— the  promise  of  an  unfailing  line,  which  terminates  in  his 
Son  and  Lord,  who  shall  occupy  the  throne  without  pause 
and  without  successor.     Christ  on  the  throne,  and  for  ever 
on  the  throne,  of  His  father  David,  constitutes  the  sure  and 
sacred  promise  of  David.     But  if  death  were  to  strike  one 
so  exalted — if  there  were  to  be  any  interregnum — if  the  head 
wearing  David's  diadem  were  to  be  discrowned,  and  again 


THE   SERVICE  OP   DAVID.  93 

be  covered  with  a  "  napkin" — if  the  occupant  of  his  throne 
were  to  vacate  it  at  the  summons  of  the  King  of  terrors ; 
then  the  sure  mercies  of  David  would  disappear,  and  the 
promise  would  be  falsified.  These  sure  mercies  thus  guar- 
antee that  David's  Son,  once  upon  his  throne,  shall  always 
sit  there ;  and  if  He  always  sit  there,  He  must  be  superior 
to  death,  for  it  empties  all  thrones  but  His.  He  is  in 
no  hazard  of  that  corruption  which  follows  death,  and  has 
received  into  it  in  succession  every  other  inheritor  of 
royalty.  The  citation,  therefore,  proved  the  apostle's  posi- 
tion ;  and  such  a  proof  had  a  charm  and  power  to  a  Hebrew 
mind  which  it  can  scarcely  have  upon  ours. 

The  apostle  now  rises  higher,  and  affirms  that  though 
Christ  died  and  even  was  buried,  He  did  not  see  corruption. 
The  proof  is  taken  from  the  16th  psalm :  "  Thou  shalt  not 
suffer  thine  Holy  One  to  see  corruption  " — the  same  epithet 
being  here  applied  to  Christ  as  characterizes  the  promise 
made  about  him  to  David.  The  argument  is,  that  the 
words  have  no  reference  at  all  to  David,  but  solely  and 
singly  to  Christ.  They  were  not  and  could  not  be  fulfilled 
in  David;  for  there  happened  to  him  the  very  change 
which,  as  the  quotation  vouches,  should  not  take  place  on 
the  Holy  One.  Having  mentioned  David,  the  preacher 
pronounces  a  brief  eulogy  on  him.  He  does  not  barely 
say  that  he  lived  or  reigned,  but  that  he  served — did 
not  simply  enjoy  the  luxuries  of  royalty,  but  he  minis- 
tered for  the  good  of  his  own  generation;  and  that  in  a 
variety  of  ways.  With  his  finger  on  his  harp  he  composed 
a  psalm ;  or  sword  in  hand  he  gained  a  victory;  or  seated 
on  the  tribunal  he  dispensed  justice  to  the  tribes.  "  His 


94  PAUL  AT  ANTIOCH   IN  PISIDIA. 

own  generation"  or  his  contemporaries  were  benefited  by 
him,  and  through  them  all  ages  are  under  obligation  to  the 
"  sweet  singer  of  Israel."  David  lived  a  life  of  usefulness. 
His  was  not  mere  existence  and  selfish  enjoyment;  but, 
having  got  good,  he  did  good.  His  powers  did  not  lie 
fallow;  cultivation  was  cheered  by  blessing,  and  followed 
by  increase.  And  the  "will  of  God"  was  his  rule.  There 
were,  alas !  many  aberrations  ;  but,  when  he  fell,  he  prayed 
and  sobbed  and  rose  again,  and  God  helped  him.  u  So  he 
fed  them  according  to  the  integrity  of  his  heart,  and  guided 
them  by  the  skilfulness  of  his  hands." 

The  doing  of  present  duty  is  serving  the  will  of  God,  and 
in  acting  as  it  prescribes,  you  bless  your  contemporaries. 
Blessed  yourself,  you  become  a  blessing.  But  service  due 
to  one  age  is  not  exhausted  in  it ;  it  may  descend  to  other 
generations  and  reach  to  distant  lands.  There  lived  last  cen- 
tury in  England  an  obscure  woman  with  an  only  son.  When 
he  was  but  seven  years  old  she  died.  But  her  image  and 
her  prayers  for  him  haunted  him  by  land  and  by  sea — in 
the  ports  of  Britain,  and  on  the  beaches  of  Africa — when 
shipping  manacled  negroes,  or  carousing  on  shore  with  a 
seaman's  zest.  His  heart  was  at  length  touched,  and 
that  sailor  became  a  minister,  renowned  for  his  impressive 
conversations  and  correspondence.  His  words  reached 
Claudius  Buchanan  and  sent  him  to  India,  where  he 
preached  and  translated ;  and  the  recital  of  his  labours  so 
attracted  Judson,  that  he  sailed  from  the  far  West  for 
Burmah,  and  found  it  a  sphere  of  eminent  usefulness.  The 
same  gift  to  a  mother's  asking  threw  light  on  the  benighted 
soul  of  Thomas  Scott,  and  he  became  the  popular  and 


THE   DEATH  OF  DAVID.  95 

voluminous  commentator.  It  strengthened  the  feeble  and 
clouded  soul  of  Cowper,  and  when  the  poet  cried — "O, 
magnify  the  Lord  with  me,  and  let  us  exalt  His  name 
together,"  the  Olney  hymns  sprang  into  existence.  Wil- 
berforce  was  greatly  indebted  to  the  same  source  ;  and  his 
"Practical  View  of  Christianity"  brought  truth  into  the 
mind  of  Legh  Kichmond,  who  wrote  that  holy,  homely  tale 
— the  "  Dairyman's  Daughter."  What  an  interlaced  and 
unexhausted  influence  did  this  pious  praying  woman  pro- 
duce ! — in  sermons,  letters,  translations,  commentary,  and 
song ;  work  at  home,  and  work  among  the  heathen — among 
the  polished,  and  among  the  rustic — in  the  senate  of  Eng- 
land, and  on  the  lowly  hearths  of  Hindostan.  What  her 
name  was,  we  know  not ;  where  her  tomb  is,  we  cannot 
tell.  She  was  the  mother  of  John  Newton. 

David's  period  of  service  being  over,  he  was  released. 
Wearied  out  with  age  and  with  the  burdens  of  government, 
he  fell  on  sleep — exhausted  nature  sank  into  repose.  He 
was  immortal  till  his  work  was  done.  The  image  of  sleep, 
so  pleasing  and  tender,  suggests  the  notion  of  rest  and  sub- 
sequent awakening.  "  When  I  awake,  I  shall  be  satisfied 
with  Thy  likeness."  The  king  was  "  laid  unto  his 
fathers,"  was  buried  in  the  city  of  David — the  phraseology 
being  borrowed  from  the  custom,  that  each  family  had  its 
burial-place  in  its  own  garden  or  grounds.  The  parents  of 
David  were  probably  buried  at  Bethlehem  with  their  "  rude 
forefathers  of  the  hamlet ;"  but  the  phrase  is  well  enough 
understood.  The  royal  corpse  experienced  decay,  decom- 
posed in  its  narrow  vault,  as  do  other  dead  bodies ;  it "  saw 
corruption  " — fell  into  "  dust  and  ashes ;"  so  that  very  soon 


96  PAUL  AT  ANTIOCH   IN   PISIDIA. 

the  form  of  its  skeleton  could  no  longer  be  distinguished. 
But  He  of  whom  Psalm  xvi.  speaks — this  Jesus  of  David's 
seed — was  buried,  and  yet  saw  no  corruption.  The  ordi- 
nary process  of  decay  and  putrefaction  did  not  take  place 
on  Him,  though  His  body  was  mangled  and  pierced.  He 
rose  on  the  third  day  in  health  and  freshness,  a  victor  over 
death.  In  the  very  place  of  death,  He  obtained  a  triumph 
over  death.  On  its  field  of  victory — the  realm  of  corrup- 
tion, where  the  dead  moulder  away,  and  the  dust  returns 
to  the  earth  as  it  was — did  He  signally  vanquish  mortality. 
He  who  won  such  a  victory  is  surely  above  death,  and 
lives  for  ever.  Ours  is  an  immortal  Saviour,  the  first  and 
the  last,  and  the  living  One.  Our  life  is  secure,  for  it  springs 
from  His.  There  was  once  a  dead  Christ,  but  the  spectacle 
shall  be  seen  no  more.  He  lives,  and  He  gives  life  ;  nay, 
He  shall  open  the  tombs  and  summon  His  people  to  im- 
mortal existence.  They  see  corruption,  but  "  this  corrup- 
tible shall  put  on  incorruption."  The  living  Jesus  shall 
do  it,  and  He  is  coming  to  do  it — "  Amen,  even  so,  come, 
Lord  Jesus."  The  conclusion  of  the  apostle,  then,  is — 
that  the  Saviour,  David's  Son,  was  the  promised  Messiah 
— the  great  hope  of  the  nation — who  had  died,  indeed,  but 
was  now  the  immortal  Governor.  These  quotations  show 
that  the  Old  Testament,  though  its  imagery  and  costume  be 
national,  is  a  message  of  salvation  by  a  coming  Redeemer. 
Then  it  was  hope,  but  now  it  is  faith ;  then  was  the  age  of 
prophecy,  now  is  the  age  of  history.  There  was  then  & 
longing  that  He  should  come,  but  now  there  is  rejoicing 
that  He  has  come.  What  was  latent  in  the  prophets,  is 
now  patent  in  the  evangelists  and  apostles.  Christianity 


APPLICATION   OF  THE   DISCOURSE.  97 

was  the  core  of  Judaism ;  and,  if  not  go  old  as  the  creation, 
it  is,  at  least,  as  ancient  as  the  fall. 

One  may  remark  the  great  similarity  between  this  first 
recorded  discourse  of  the  apostle  Paul,  and  that  delivered 
by  Peter  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  Both  dwell  on  the  same 
theme,  and  both  refer  to  Ps.  xvi.  Peter's  proof  is,  This 
old  ode  cannot  refer  to  David ;  for  David  still  lies  in  his 
tomb,  and  "  his  sepulchre  is  with  us  unto  this  day."  Nor 
has  David  ascended  into  the  heavens;  therefore,  what 
he  sang  in  Ps.  ex.  does  not  refer  to  himself,  but  to  the 
same  Jesus  who  was  crucified,  and  who  is  now  "  Lord  and 
Christ."  These  early  preachers  could  scarcely  avoid  this 
track  of  argument ;  and  as  the  Old  Testament  was  common 
ground  with  them  and  their  audience,  they  allowed  the 
cross  lights  of  prophecy  to  play  over  their  addresses.  Those 
to  whom  they  spoke  admitted  the  truth  of  such  predictions, 
and  might  not  quarrel  on  all  points  of  interpretation,  and 
therefore  they  strove  to  show  that  their  fulfilment  in  Jesus 
was  a  matter  of  ocular  demonstration.  Men  saw  the  living 
Jesus  in  a  great  variety  of  situations  after  He  rose,  and 
affirmed  that  they  did  eat  and  drink  with  Him — affirmed 
it  without  hesitation  and  at  all  hazards. 

The  apostle  proceeds  to  apply  his  discourse — "  Be  it 
therefore  known  to  you,  men-brethren,  that  through  this 
One  (this  divine  immortal  Jesus)  to  you  is  forgiveness  of 
gins  proclaimed,  and  from  all  things  from  which  ye  could 
not  in  the  law  of  Moses  be  justified,  in  Him  every  one  who 
believes  is  justified;  Beware  lest  there  come  upon  you 
what  is  spoken  of  in  the  prophets — c  Behold,  ye  despisers, 
and  wonder,  and  be  wasted,  for  I  work  a  work  in  your 

G 


98  PAUL  AT  ANTIOCH  IN   PISIDIA. 

days,  a  work  which  ye  would  not  believe,  even  though  one 
should  describe  it  to  you.' ':  In  this  quotation,  which  is 
taken  from  the  Septuagint,  there  is  a  remarkable  variation 
from  the  Hebrew,  which  reads — "  Behold  ye  among  the 
heathen."  The  apostle  adopted  the  ancient  Hellenistic 
version  in  a  Hellenistic  synagogue,  though  that  clause 
in  the  original  text  specified  the  geographical  position 
of  his  hearers,  and  would  have  been  a  very  significant 
appeal. 

In  this  third  and  last  portion  of  his  address,  the  apostle 
announces  the  distinctive  blessing  of  the  gospel — forgive- 
ness of  sins  through  this  Saviour  who  had  died  and  risen 
again,  and  was  beyond  the  power  of  corruption.  There- 
fore— such  is  the  inference,  such  being  His  career  and 
character ;  such  His  relation  to  prophecy  and  the  Jewish 
people ;  and  such  now  His  exalted  position,  as  the  immor- 
tal Son  of  David  on  His  Father's  throne :  therefore  is  this 
announcement  made — "Be  it  known  to  you" — a  solemn 
preamble,  and  one  also  employed  by  Peter — "  Be  it  known 
unto  you,  that  through  this  man  is  preached  unto  you  the 
forgiveness  of  sins.'7  That  proclamation  reaches  the 
depths  of  man's  spiritual  nature,  for  it  speaks  to  his 
sense  of  guilt;  to  that  profound  agony  which  ever 
haunts  him,  and  has  shown  itself  so  often  in  sacrifices 
so  costly  as  that  of  his  first-born  for  his  transgression, 
and  in  pains  and  tortures,  even  to  suicide.  A  conscious- 
ness of  guilt  oppresses  and  stings  him,  and  what  are  his 
altars  and  victims,  but  its  dark  and  terrible  outlet  ?  He 
struggles  for  peace  with  God;  and  to  gain  the  assurance 
that  God  will  regard  him  with  favour,  he  resorts  to 


FORGIVENESS.  99 

every  form  and  means  of  propitiation.  The  apostle 
probed  the  hearts  of  his  audience  when  he  announced 
forgiveness — uttered  the  word  which  every  thoughtful 
spirit  had  longed  to  hear.  Did  we  feel  what  guilt  is,  or 
what  the  frequent  confession  of  such  guilt  implies ;  did  we 
but  know  what  it  is  to  fall  into  the  "hands  of  an  angry 
God  5 "  could  we  faintly  shadow  out  the  picture  of  "  weeping 
and  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth; "  had  we  any  conception 
of  what  is  involved  in  death  as  the  wages  of  sin — 0  then, 
how  would  our  heart  glow  at  the  mention  of  forgiveness ; 
what  an  immediate  grasp  should  we  lay  upon  it,  and  how 
we  should  cherish  it  as  the  charter  of  our  freedom  and 
hopes ! 

The  apostle  exclaimed — "  Through  this  man  to  you 
forgiveness  of  sin  is  proclaimed,"  laying  special  emphasis 
on  the  medium — "  through  this  one " — this  one  I  have 
described  and  proved  to  be  an  immortal  Saviour.  When 
had  a  Jewish  synagogue  listened  to  such  an  announce- 
ment? It  dealt  not  with  such  external  blessings  as 
peace  and  plenty  —  it  amused  them  not  with  national 
glory  or  conquest.  Neither  did  it  chain  them  with  the 
things  of  sense  or  time.  It  spoke  not  of  a  leader  to  break 
the  yoke  of  Home,  nor  of  a  legislator  to  give  freedom  and 
security,  but  of  Jesus — the  Saviour.  There  was  no 
promise  of  the  dew  of  Hermon  or  the  balm  of  Gilead; 
no  picture  of  plenty — the  olives  on  Carmel,  the  vine- 
yards of  Eschol,  the  barns  of  Hebron,  or  the  nets  of 
Gennesaret.  The  announcement  was  meant  neither  to 
equip  a  camp  nor  convoke  a  senate,  but  to  form  a  church. 
It  might  leave  man's  civil  relations  as  they  were,  but  it 


100  PAUL  AT  ANTIOCH  IN  PISIDIA. 

gave  him  a  new  and  blessed  relationship  to  his  Maker. 
He  might  remain  at  Antioch ;  but  he  became  a  citizen  of 
the  New  Jerusalem,  the  partaker  of  a  circumcision  not 
made  with  hands,  and  the  guest  at  a  richer  and  more 
frequent  feast  than  the  national  passover.  He  might  not 
return  to  his  fatherland,  but  he  was  enfranchised  in  a 
"  better  country,"  and  should  "  come  to  Zion  with  songs 
and  everlasting  joy  upon  his  head."  The  waves  of  the 
Jordan  might  never  meet  his  vision,  but  he  shall  recline  on 
the  bank  of  the  river  of  "  water  of  life."  Forgiveness — yes, 
forgiveness  through  this  Saviour,  is  the  apostle's  message. 
This  Saviour  had  died,  but  had  risen  again  no  more  to  die. 
The  fact  of  such  immortality  is  proof  that  His  enterprise 
had  been  completed,  and  pardon  through  "  this  one  "  is  the 
news  brought  by  His  herald,  since  it  is  in  consequence  of 
what  He  has  done  and  suffered,  that  the  blessing  has  been 
provided,  and  is  now  promulgated.  According  to  this  brief 
report  of  his  address,  the  apostle  does  not  fully  develop  the 
connection  between  the  death  of  Christ,  and  the  pardon 
secured  by  it.  He  alludes  to  the  leading  facts,  appealing 
at  once  to  the  experience  of  his  audience,  and  treating 
the  subject  more  as  matter  of  history  than  doctrine.  In 
many  of  his  epistles,  the  apostle  gives  special  prominence 
to  the  forgiveness  of  sins.  And  no  wonder.  It  is  the  first 
blessing  which  a  sinner  enjoys  —  the  curse  is  taken  off 
him,  and  he  enjoys  peace  with  God.  It  comes  directly 
and  at  once  from  the  cross  of  Christ;  for  He  bore  01 
guilt,  that  we  might  not  bear  it  ourselves.  It  is  coi 
nected,  too,  with  every  other  gift;  forgiveness  first,  an< 
all  other  things  shall  be  added  unto  us — purity,  spiril 


JUSTIFICATION   THROUGH   FAITH.  101 

strength  and  progress,  all  that  fits  for  living  and  prepares 
for  dying. 

And  he  does  not  leave  the  subject  without  a  farther 
illustration  and  contrast.  The  contrast  gave  a  vividness  to 
his  meaning,  and  may  have  startled  his  audience — "  And 
by  Him,  all  that  believe  are  justified  from  all  things,  from 
which  ye  could  not  be  justified  by  the  law  of  Moses."  The 
apostle  throws  his  ideas  into  an  antithesis — justification 
in  the  law  of  Moses  opposed  to  justification  in  Him,  for  the 
words — "  in  Him  " — belong  to  the  whole  clause,  and  not 
simply  to  the  phrase — "  all  who  believe."  Our  common 
version  reverses  entirely  the  order  of  the  apostle's  words, 
and  so  far  obscures  the  sense.  In  Him,  not  "  by  Him," 
is  in  union  with  Him;  and  in  the  law,  is  in  connection 
with  it.  The  apostle's  favourite  term  is  now  introduced 
— justified;  justified  from  all  things — absolved  from  all 
charges,  or  all  elements  and  results  of  guilt.  And  not 
only  there  is  absolution  from  guilt,  but  the  absolved  is 
treated  as  righteous,  or  is  reinstated  in  the  Divine  favour. 
Blessed  truth !  not  acquitted  only,  and  left  with  a  brand 
upon  him,  but  regarded  as  if  sin  had  never  been  com- 
mitted ;  freed  from  the  penalty,  and  also  accepted  by  the 
righteous  Judge.  This  justification  is  in  Him,  and 
through  what  He  has  done,  the  righteousness  He  has 
brought  in,  and  the  sufferings  He  has  endured.  But  it 
is  not  a  blessing  thrown  upon  the  world  at  large,  like  the 
gifts  of  Providence  of  which  all  are  partakers.  It  is  pos- 
sessed only  by  "  all  who  believe."  Every  citizen  of  Israel 
had  it  not,  though  a  Saviour  had  been  raised  up  in  Israel. 
In  former  times  of  deliverance,  when  the  sword  had  been 


102  PAUL  AT  ANTIOCH   IN   PISIDIA. 

uplifted  to  smite  the  oppressor,  or  a  wise  edict  had  been 
promulgated,  the  entire  community  had  felt  the  advantage 
without  individual  effort  or  concern.  But  now  only  he 
who  believed  was  justified.  There  must  be  personal 
recognition  of  the  Saviour,  and  the  conscious  reception  of 
His  claims. 

The  apostle  does  not  stay  to  describe  what  belief  is, 
nor  tell  his  audience  what  things  were  to  be  believed. 
They  were  well  aware  of  what  they  were  summoned  to 
believe — to  wit,  the  address  now  delivered  to  them.  Jus- 
tification is  promised  to  belief  in  the  apostolic  statement 
as  to  Messiah,  who  was  the  Son  of  David,  the  embodi- 
ment of  ancient  oracle,  the  fulfilment  of  divine  promise, 
and  the  realization  of  the  nation's  prayers  and  hopes. 
"  Believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be 
saved."  "  He  that  believeth  is  saved."  All  spiritual 
blessing  depends  on  faith,  for  "  with  the  heart  man  believ- 
eth unto  righteousness."  How  can  any  one  who  rejects 
Christ,  receive  of  Christ's ;  how  can  he  who  spurns  the 
provider,  expect  to  enjoy  the  provision?  He  comes  with 
gifts,  but  the  unbelieving  heart  retorts — "  Thy  gifts  be  to 
thyself."  It  opens  not  to  admit  the  Saviour,  and  excluding 
Him,  it  of  necessity  shuts  itself  out  from  His  salvation.  It 
cannot  be  otherwise.  Sinners  are  not  saved  against  their 
will — are  not  rapt  upward  in  a  fiery  chariot  from  earth 
to  heaven.  Their  own  consent  is  asked,  and  is  given  by 
the  exercise  of  faith.  But  any  one  may  have  this  faith, 
and  every  one  who  has  it  is  justified — every  one  in  that 
assembly — whatever  his  rank  or  character — without  dis- 
tinction of  sins  or  classification  of  sinners.  So  broad  is 


JUSTIFICATION  NOT   BY   LAW.  103 

the  apostle's  statement — "  all  who  believe  are  justified  "  in 
Jesus ;  nay,  more — "  justified  from  all  things,  from  which 
ye  could  not  be  justified  by  the  law  of  Moses."  Not  as  if 
there  were  some  things  from  which  the  law  of  Moses  could 
justify,  and  others  to  secure  justification  from  which  it  was 
inadequate.  The  phrase  is  all  things — all  elements  of 
charge  or  indictment;  but  from  none  of  these  could  the  law 
of  Moses  secure  acquittal.  Christ  justifies  from  all  things — 
the  law  of  Moses  could  justify  from  nothing.  The  cere- 
monial law  was  a  shadowy  picture  of  things  to  come ;  it 
prefigured  this  justification,  but  figure  is  not  substance. 
It  might  absolve  from  the  charge  of  ceremonial  impurity, 
yet  "  the  blood  of  bulls  and  of  goats  "  could  not  take  away 
sin.  And  the  moral  law,  since  it  condemned  fallen  man,  did 
not  and  could  not  justify  him;  for  though  "  ordained  unto 
life,  it  was  found  to  be  unto  death."  "  What  things  soever 
the  law  saith,  it  saith  to  them  who  are  under  the  law,  that 
every  mouth  may  be  stopped,  and  all  the  world  may  become 
guilty  before  God."  "  Cursed  is  every  one  that  continueth 
not  in  all  things  that  are  written  in  the  book  of  the  law  to  do 
them.7'  Only  he  who  should  obey  it  perfectly,  could  hope 
to  be  justified  by  it ;  but  "  all  have  sinned."  The  law 
discovers  man's  sinfulness,  and  the  more  its  spirituality  is 
understood,  the  more  awful  will  his  guilt  appear.  Yet  the 
Jewish  nation  vainly  hoped  for  justification  by  works ;  in 
its  folly  it  sought  life  from  a  law  which  had  wrought  its 
death. 

The  apostle  thus  brought  his  illustration  to  a  point,  at 
which  either  faith  or  rejection  would  be  developed.  This 
declaration  of  the  incapability  of  the  Mosaic  law  for  justifi- 


104  PAUL  AT  ANTIOCH  IN  PISIDIA. 

cation,  must  have  rasped  across  the  mind  of  his  hearers. 
They  gloried  in  the  law,  for  it  was  their  pride  and  orna- 
ment ;  and  in  obedience  to  it,  they  not  only  observed  the 
Sabbath,  and  had  that  day  assembled  in  the  synagogue,  but 
they  also  kept  themselves  distinct  from  heathen  nations. 
How  they  must  have  gazed  when  this  bold  stranger  so 
addressed  them!  His  conclusion  must  have  been  a  sad 
disappointment.  They  had  listened  with  delight,  as  he 
recounted  their  ancestral  glories  and  spoke  of  their  great 
heroes ;  they  must  have  marvelled,  as  he  told  them  of  a  last 
Saviour — nay,  one  of  David's  lineage,  who  had  died,  but 
now  lives  and  lives  for  ever ;  and  they  would  eagerly 
stretch  forward  to  learn  what  deliverance  eclipsing  all 
others  was  to  be  ascribed  to  Him.  Their  awakened  fancy 
may  have  painted  a  national  resuscitation,  before  which 
the  scenes  of  the  Exodus  and  of  the  return  from  Babylon 
should  be  shorn  of  their  lustre.  What  shall  David's  Son 
— God's  Son — the  immortal  Kedeemer,  achieve  for  them  ? 
— victory,  when  they  should  have  the  honour  of  binding 
"  kings  in  chains,  and  nobles  in  fetters  of  iron  " — redistri- 
bution of  power  and  territory,  when  judgment  should  be 
given  "  to  the  saints  of  the  Most  High,"  and  they  should 
"  possess  the  kingdom  " — royal  pre-eminence,  when  "  the 
forces  of  the  Gentiles  should  come  unto  them  " — or  equit- 
able and  benignant  jurisdiction,  when  "the  mountains  shall 
bring  peace  to  the  people,  and  the  little  hills  by  righteous- 
ness ?"  Such  a  picture  may  have  been  gradually  gathering 
before  the  mind  of  the  synagogue,  and  assuming  consistency 
and  colour,  as  they  listened  to  the  words — "  Be  it  known 
unto  you,  men-brethren,"  when  suddenly  it  was  dashed  by 


DOOM  OF    UNBELIEF.  105 

the  announcement,  that  the  issue  of  the  whole  was  forgive- 
ness of  sins,  and  not  only  so,  but  their  own  law  was  underrated 
and  set  aside.  And  has  it  come  to  this  ?  Is  this  really  the 
whole  result  after  so  glorious  a  prologue?  They  could 
not  bear  it:  chagrin  and  unbelief  were  too  plainly  seen 
on  numerous  countenances.  The  speaker  well  knew  what 
emotions  and  conflict  his  words  would  create.  He  knew  it 
from  himself,  when,  some  time  before,  he  heard  Stephen 
"  speak  blasphemous  words  against  Moses,"  and  soon  after 
consented  to  his  death.  And  therefore,  so  warned,  he  con- 
cluded with  an  awful  fulmination.  He  did  not  implore  or 
argue ;  he  did  not  dissolve  in  tears ;  he  saw  the  impression 
already  produced  on  not  a  few  of  them,  and  he  hurled  against 
them  this  tremendous  menace — "  Beware  therefore,  lest 
that  come  upon  you  which  is  spoken  of  in  the  prophets ; 
Behold,  ye  despisers,  and  wonder,  and  perish :  for  I  work 
a  work  in  your  days,  a  work  which  ye  shall  in  no  wise 
believe,  though  a  man  declare  it  unto  you." 

The  quotation  referred  originally  to  the  invasion  of 
Palestine  by  the  Chaldean  armies.  Such  a  devastation 
appeared  impossible  to  the  men  of  that  day;  nor  could 
they  for  a  moment  imagine  that  the  fane  of  Solomon 
could  or  would  be  laid  in  ruin.  Though  they  had  been 
repeatedly  warned  of  that  "work,"  they  refused  to  credit 
it.  But  God  did  work  the  work  when  the  troops  of 
Nebuchadnezzar  sacked  the  city,  and  burned  the  "holy 
and  beautiful  house."  A  similar  doom  was  impending 
over  Judea;  the  Komans  were  about  to  come  and  take 
away  their  "  place  and  nation."  This  destruction,  though 
told  them,  they  would  not  believe.  The  Jews  would  not  see 


106  PAUL  AT   ANTIOCH   IN   PISIDIA. 

their  guilt  in  crucifying  Jesus,  and  therefore  could  not  forsee 
their  punishment.  National  sins  bring  national  penalty, 
and  history  is  but  a  series  of  such  retributions.  The  God 
of  nations  is  even  now  on  His  tribunal,  and  as  nations  have 
no  hereafter,  and  their  organic  existence  is  so  brief  and 
uncertain,  therefore  are  they  judged  and  punished  in  the 
present  life.  While  the  apostle  warned  his  hearers  that 
the  rejection  of  Messiah  would  assuredly  bring  upon  the 
nation  its  last  and  most  terrible  catastrophe,  his  present 
audience  might  imagine  that  they  should  escape  the 
national  havoc,  bloodshed,  and  captivity,  because,  resident 
in  Antioch,  they  were  so  far  from  the  scene.  But  these 
ancient  words  had  at  the  same  time  a  personal  reference  to 
them.  If  they  were  despisers,  and  a  smile  of  derision 
might  be  seen  on  the  faces  of  some — if  they  were  wonder- 
ing, and  it  were  the  surprise  of  incredulity — if  they  did  not 
appreciate  the  apostle's  message,  and  accept  the  forgive- 
ness by  faith  in  Christ  which  he  had  announced — they  must 
perish.  His  message  was  strange,  but  true ;  their  refusal  to 
receive  it  was  fatal ;  and,  "  knowing  the  terror  of  the  Lord," 
he  endeavoured  to  persuade  them.  For,  it  is  either  forgive- 
ness or  endless  misery — awful  alternatives.  "  He  that 
believeth  is  saved ;  he  that  believeth  not  is  condemned 
already."  The  character  man  dies  with  is  irreversible,  lasts 
for  ever.  What  he  is  when  he  leaves  the  world,  he  is  for 
eternity.  What  an  inducement  now  to  believe !  Despise 
not,  wonder  not,  but  believe  and  live.  Threatenings  of  wrath 
are  no  idle  fulminations.  "  How  shall  we  escape,  if  we 
neglect  so  great  salvation  ?"  And  may  not  our  nation  take 
the  warning  to  itself  ?  What  has  been  done  to  other  people 


THE   EESULT.  107 

may  fall  on  it — not,  perhaps,  physical  evil,  flood,  or  earth- 
quake, but  spiritual  visitation. 

"  What,  then !  were  they  the  wicked  above  all, 
And  we  the  righteous,  whose  fast-anchored  isle 
Moved  not,  while  their's  was  rocked  like  a  light  skiff — 
The  sport  of  every  wave  ?     No,  none  are  clear, 
And  none  than  we  more  guilty.     But,  where  all 
Stand  chargeable  with  guilt,  and  to  the  shafts 
Of  wrath  obnoxious,  God  may  choose  his  mark — 
May  punish,  if  he  please,  the  less,  to  warn 
The  more  malignant.     If  he  spared  not  them, 
Tremble  and  be  amazed  at  thine  escape, 
0  guilty  England,  lest  he  spare  not  thee." 

We  may  now  for  a  moment  glance  at  the  result. 

According  to  the  correct  reading  of  the  next  verse,  the 
sense  is — "  And  they  (that  is,  the  apostles)  having  gone  out, 
they  (that  is,  the  rulers  who  had  asked  them  to  speak)  be- 
sought that  these  words  might  be  preached  to  them  the  next 
Sabbath;"  or  it  may  be,  as  the  people  were  going  out  they 
besought — a  request  complied  with,  as  is  stated  in  verse  44. 
More  fully  are  we  told  in  the  next  verse.  "  Now,  when  the 
congregation  was  broken  up,  many  of  the  Jews  and  religious 
proselytes  followed  Paul  and  Barnabas :  who,  speaking  to 
them,  persuaded  them  to  continue  in  the  grace  of  God." 
The  sequence  of  events  seems  to  be,  that  Paul  and  Barnabas 
withdrew  first,  leaving  the  congregation  still  assembled, 
though  on  the  eve.  of  breaking  up;  and  that  as  soon  as 
the  meeting  was  formally  dissolved,  many  groups  of  Jews 
and  proselytes  made  up  to  the  speakers,  had  an  interview 
with  them,  and  received  an  earnest  exhortation  to  continue 
in  the  grace  of  God — to  persevere  in  cherishing  present 
convictions  as  to  the  truth  of  the  gospel  and  its  being  the 


108  PAUL  AT  ANTIOCH   IN   PISID1A. 

spiritual  fulfilment  of  the  old  economy.  "  If  ye  continue 
in  my  word,"  Christ  had  said,  "  then  are  ye  my  disciples." 
During  the  week  the  excitement  was  great ;  the  novel 
oration  was  the  universal  topic  of  reference  and  discussion ; 
the  two  strangers  would  neither  be  silent  nor  inactive  in 
the  interval;  and  the  consequence  was  that  when  the 
Sabbath  came  round,  "almost  the  whole  city"  was  gathered 
to  hear  the  word  of  God — that  new  revelation  which  he  had 
vouchsafed  to  the  world.  The  Jews  could  not  bear  the 
spectacle ;  indignation  and  jealousy  filled  them  at  the 
apparent  popularity  of  the  new  faith,  as  it  supplanted  theirs ; 
and,  true  to  their  bigotry,  they  were  found  contradicting  and 
blaspheming — opposing  in  a  spirit  of  impious  scorn.  They 
had  a  recognized  superiority  among  the  Gentile  races  from 
their  possession  of  a  true  and  spiritual  belief,  and  had  won 
over  many  converts.  They  could  not  tolerate  the  loss  of 
this  prestige,  and  they  must  have  been  cut  to  the  heart 
that  many  of  their  own  people  and  of  the  proselytes  seemed 
to  be  captivated.  Their  rage  could  not  be  vented  in  a 
simple  denial ;  that  denial  must  be  barbed  with  vituperation 
of  the  apostles,  or  a  profane  caricature  of  Him  whom  they 
proclaimed.  The  scene  kindled  Paul  and  Barnabas,  and 
they  spoke  in  holy  boldness — offered  no  apology,  dealt  in 
no  personalities,  uttered  no  words  of  vindictive  surprise  or 
impetuous  recrimination.  They  solemnly  declare  that  what 
they  had  been  doing,  and  were  going  to  do  more  fully,  was 
warranted  by  the  conduct  of  their  Jewish  antagonists,  and 
was  in  harmony  also  with  God's  own  revealed  purpose  and 
prediction.  The  Jews  put  away — spurned  the  divine 
message,  or  in  the  more  awful  phrase  of  the  apostle,  "  Ye 


JEWISH   OBSTINACY.  109 

judge  yourselves  unworthy  of  everlasting  life."  They 
pronounced  a  fatal  verdict  upon  themselves,  since,  by 
refusing  to  accept  salvation,  they  declared  themselves  not 
worthy  of  it.  Why,  then,  should  it  be  longer  held  out 
to  them  ?  It  was  not  ignorance,  which  might  be  excused ; 
it  was  not  doubt,  which  might  be  enlightened ;  it  was 
not  hesitation,  which  might  be  quickened:  but  it  was 
decided,  violent,  and  defamatory  refusal,  which  would 
not  profit  by  discussion,  and  put  an  end  to  all  hope  of  a 
happy  change.  This  being  your  character  and  self-pro- 
nounced doom,  "  lo,  we  turn  to  the  Gentiles  " — not  in  other 
countries  still  to  be  visited,  but  in  this  very  city.  They 
began  with  the  synagogue :  two  Sabbaths  had  they  been 
in  it,  but  they  felt  at  perfect  liberty  now  to  go  to  the 
forum;  to  apply  themselves  at  once  to  the  gentile  con- 
science, and  offer  the  gospel  without  respect  of  race  or 
blood.  Their  meaning  is,  not  that  they  were  to  turn  to  the 
Gentiles  for  the  first  time,  nor  was  it  a  vow  never  to 
labour  again  for  the  conversion  of  the  Jews.  Their  con- 
duct was  in  harmony  with  the  inspired  oracles — "  For  so 
hath  the  Lord  commanded  us,  saying,  I  have  set  thee  to  be 
a  light  of  the  Gentiles,  that  thou  shouldest  be  for  salvation 
unto  the  ends  of  the  earth."  The  words  are  originally 
applicable  to  the  Messiah,  but  He  and  His  are  identified, 
and  an  injunction  laid  upon  the  Head  thrills  in  its  power 
to  all  the  members.  The  light  was  to  flash  first  upon  the 
Jews,  but  it  was  also  to  be  carried  to  the  Gentiles,  bringing 
the  knowledge  of  salvation  and  life.  No  wonder  that  the 
poor  heathen  were  glad  when  they  heard  that  they  were  not 
to  be  excluded,  but  were  formally  embraced  in  the  divine 


110  PAUL  AT  ANTIOCH   IN   PISIDIA. 

plan — no  wonder  that  they  "  glorified  the  word  of  the 
Lord." 

And  the  result  was,  that  "  as  many  as  were  ordained  to 
eternal  life  believed."  The  gospel  spread  with  rapidity  in 
the  district.  But  the  enmity  of  the  Jews  could  not  be 
appeased;  the  more  the  gospel  prospered,  the  more  ran- 
corous grew  their  rage.  They  would  not  reason,  nor  yet 
condescend  to  toleration ;  but  their  ingenuity  helped  them. 
They  enlisted  proselytesses  of  high  rank,  who  employed 
their  influence  over  "  the  chief  men  of  the  city  "  to  effect 
the  expulsion  of  the  agitators.  Women  are  rarely  ranged 
against  the  gospel.  In  its  introduction  high  honour  had 
been  conferred  upon  them.  "Blessed  art  thou  among 
women,"  was  Gabriel's  salutation  to  the  mother-maid; 
"  she  hath  done  what  she  could,"  was  the  Lord's  eulogy 
on  another  Mary;  and  to  a  third,  as  she  stood  by  his 
tomb,  and  did  not  recognize  her  risen  friend  in  the  dim 
light  of  the  morning,  he  simply  said  "Mary,"  and  the 
familiar  tone  at  once  excited  the  joyous  response,  "Kab- 
boni."  Last  at  the  cross,  they  were  first  at  the  sepulchre. 
This  attachment  to  Jesus  was  no  temporary  outburst ;  it 
remained  after  the  ascension,  and  its  influence  has  not 
yet  subsided.  But  these  devout  women — heathen  women 
gained  over  to  Judaism,  formed  an  exception,  and  wrought 
with  female  art  against  the  preachers.  A  storm  of  persecu- 
tion burst  upon  them,  and  on  being  driven  out  "  they  shook 
off  the  dust  of  their  feet  against  them  " — in  obedience  to 
a  solemn  ceremonial  which  the  Master  had  prescribed. 
But  the  disciples  left  behind  were  not  depressed;  suffer- 
ing and  menace  failed  to  overawe  them;  a  divine  source 


SPIRITUAL  GLADNESS.  Ill 

of  gladness,  which  no  earthly  influence  could  shut,  had 
been  opened  within  them — they  "  were  filled  with  joy 
and  with  the  Holy  Ghost."  The  Divine  Spirit  was  the 
source  of  this  joy.  It  might  have  been  expected  under 
such  a  crisis,  that  they  should  be  "cast  down,"  even 
though  they  adhered  to  their  profession;  it  might  have 
been  thought  that  fortitude  and  resignation  was  the  highest 
that  could  be  anticipated  of  them.  But  they  rose  far 
above  this  negative  attitude,  and  were  filled  with  joy. 
It  was  not  like  a  few  scanty  pools  on  a  rocky  beach  after 
the  surge  had  retired;  the  tide  overflowed  the  entire  channel. 
This  emotion  is  independent  of  circumstances ;  it  is  influ- 
enced not  by  what  is  without  us,  but  by  what  is  within  us. 
Thus  Jesus,  on  the  eve  of  His  own  death,  over  its  sacred 
emblems,  and  in  a  scene  of  sorrow  and  sad  farewells,  said 
to  the  eleven,  "  These  things  have  I  spoken  unto  you, 
that  My  joy  might  remain  in  you,  and  that  your  joy  might 
be  full." 

When  shall  such  spiritual  gladness  fill  the  churches? 
Why  should  our  joy  be  so  tardy  and  dull — at  best  like  a 
gleam  of  sunshine  through  the  clouds  of  a  winter's  day  ? 
Has  not  our  privilege  been  continued  without  pause,  and 
is  not  the  Spirit  still  promised?  Or  is  it  that  the  world 
intervenes  and  the  heart  is  distracted,  and  that  its  joys  are 
feeble  because  they  are  dissipated?  The  early  church 
rejoiced  under  persecution,  for  it  brought  them  so  close 
to  Jesus  that  no  stranger  intermeddled.  In  the  midst  of 
surrounding  gloom,  they  blessed  and  welcomed  the  radiance 
which  cheered  them.  The  Spirit  filled  them,  for  there  was 
no  rival ;  He  had  their  hearts  all  to  Himself,  and  He  took 


112  PAUL  AT  ANTIOCH   IN   PISIDIA. 

complete  and  undisturbed  possession.  Shall  not  our  prayer 
be — Come  down,  Divine  Gladdener,  and  enter  our  souls  ? 
Without  Thee  we  are  weary  and  languid.  Others  are 
usurping  Thy  place,  or  labouring  to  share  it  with  Thee ; 
dispossess  them,  we  entreat  Thee,  and  fill  us  wholly  and 
always  with  Thyself.  Let  Thy  presence  lighten  our  bur- 
dens and  dispel  our  glooms.  Lift  us  to  rapture,  as  the 
"  power  of  the  Highest"  overshadows  us.  Open  our  hearts 
to  Thy  genial  influences,  and  let  no  night  fall  on  them  and 
close  them  again.  Let  Thy  absence  be  our  moan,  and 
may  we  never  grieve  Thee  so  that  Thou  shalt  depart.  Let 
there  be  in  us  no  darkness  to  scare  Thee ;  no  sensuality  to 
withstand  and  provoke  Thee;  no  worldliness  to  compete 
with  Thee;  no  sullenness  which  will  not  yield  at  Thy 
touch :  so  that  we  may  sing  the  hallelujah  in  no  cold  and 
constrained  melody  as  we  come  into  the  possession  of  "joy 
unspeakable  and  full  of  glory." 


VI— PAUL  AT  ICONIUM. 


ACTS  xiv.  1 — 5 ;  2  TIM.  iii.  11. 

ICONIUM  was  forty-five  miles  southeast  from  Antioch,  and 
was  reckoned  sometimes  to  Phrygia  and  sometimes  to 
Lycaonia.  It  was  a  city  filled  with  a  miscellaneous  popu- 
lation, like  all  the  Greek  cities  of  the  east.  Jews  were 
there,  and,  indeed,  where  were  they  not  ?  Greeks,  too,  were 
numerous,  and  there  might  be  some  remnants  of  its  earlier 
or  native  people ;  but  all  were  placed  under  the  controlling 
power  of  Rome.  The  mode  of  evangelical  operation  was  the 
same  here  as  at  the  city  from  which  they  had  just  been  so 
ungraciously  expelled.  They  did  not  seek  out  new  devices, 
that  they  might  incur  less  enmity ;  or  so  modify  their 
message  as  to  mitigate  the  repugnance  which  it  might 
create.  But  as  usual,  and  without  hesitation,  they  entered 
the  synagogue  together,  and  addressed  the  assembled 
audience.  They  would  not  fling  off  the  Jews,  though 
the  Jews  had  flung  off  them.  They  would  not  usurp 
God's  part,  and  judge  them  before  the  time ;  for  they  had 
drunk  into  the  spirit  of  Him  who  had  shed  tears,  the 
last  He  shed  for  others,  over  doomed  Jerusalem.  They 
would  yet  wrestle  with  Jewish  obstinacy,  though  it  so 
often  repelled  and  scorned  them.  They  would  try  it 
again  and  again,  still  again  and  yet  once  more,  with  unex- 
hausted attachment  and  patience.  They,  therefore,  repaired 

H 


114  PAUL  AT  ICONIUM. 

to  the  Jewish  meeting ;  and,  though  the  substance  of  the 
address  is  not  given,  its  result  is  briefly  stated. 

In  this  section  the  character  and  effect  of  the  apostle's 
eloquence  are  presented  to  us,  and  these  we  may  briefly 
consider.  "  They  so  spake,  that  a  great  multitude,  both 
of  the  Jews  and  also  of  the  Greeks,  believed."  From 
the  effect  produced,  we  can  argue  as  to  the  oration  deliv- 
ered. These  persons  credited  what  the  apostles  uttered. 
It  is  belief  of  evangelical  truth  which  is  ascribed  to 
them,  and  therefore  we  infer  that  evangelical  truth  had 
been  proclaimed  to  them.  The  address  might  be  much  the 
same  as  that  at  Antioch,  already  recorded.  They  so  spoke 
— in  such  a  manner,  that  many  believed.  Therefore  they 
proclaimed  the  gospel  as  truth,  and  surrounded  it  with 
such  evidences  that  it  commanded  assent.  The  persons 
addressed  were  not  summoned  to  believe  a  romance  or  a 
story  without  a  voucher ;  but  the  truth,  armed  with  proof, 
produced  conviction  and  faith  within  them.  And  they 
proclaimed  the  gospel  as  saving  truth ;  not  as  idle  specula- 
tion, or  as  common  truth,  which,  though  credited,  has  no 
power  over  heart  or  life.  No,  they  held  it  up  as  the  only 
means  of  safety,  and  pressed  it  on  the  conscience  so  ten- 
derly and  pointedly  that  "a  great  multitude"  were  brought 
under  its  influence.  Their  minds  accepted  it  on  evidence, 
and  their  hearts  took  it  home  as  "  the  power  of  God  and 
the  wisdom  of  God."  Many  of  the  Jews  believed,  therefore 
the  gospel  must  have  been  preached  as  the  fulfilment  of  the 
Old  Testament;  for  the  Jew  would  only  receive  it  as  in 
unison  with  his  scriptures,  as  verifying  the  oracle  of  the 
prophet,  and  proving  itself  that  reality  which  the  priest  and 


JEWISH  MALICE.  115 

altar  had  so  long  foreshadowed.  Many  also  of  the  Greeks 
believed,  and  therefore  the  gospel  must  have  been  held  out 
to  them  as  a  divine  testimony,  and  as  the  means  of  a  sure 
and  immediate  deliverance  from  sin  and  death. 

And  this  belief  was  the  end  contemplated,  the  end  for 
which  Paul  and  Barnabas  spoke  and  suffered.  To  create 
and  sustain  it  was  the  one  object  of  their  oratory,  and  no 
other  effect  would  satisfy  them.  Every  result  coming 
short  of  it  disappointed  and  vexed  them,  for,  without 
faith,  salvation  was  not  secured,  and  on  this  their  hearts 
were  set.  To  create  a  commotion,  and  be  the  observed  of 
all  observers ;  to  excite  wonder,  and  set  the  crowd  on  talking 
about  their  addresses ;  to  be  stared  at,  while  they  moved 
from  place  to  place,  as  tellers  of  the  marvellous,  as  wander- 
ing rhapsodists — to  such  an  unworthy  motive  they  were 
strangers.  But  even  to  impart  information  on  their  high 
themes,  to  bring  men's  attention  to  God  and  his  Son,  to 
stir  up  the  careless  to  think  of  the  soul  and  eternity, 
simply  to  communicate  knowledge  or  impart  impression — 
such  a  result  did  not  of  itself  suffice  them.  0,  no ;  they 
longed  to  give  that  instruction  which,  appreciated  by  the 
intellect,  should  also  be  grasped  by  the  heart,  and  to  lodge 
such  convictions  as  should  ripen  into  saving  belief. 

So  soon  as  such  an  effect  was  produced,  a  sharp  distinc- 
tion between  two  parties  was  at  once  apparent.  The  Jews 
might  not  be  able  to  disprove  the  new  religion,  but  they 
could  bring  it  and  its  adherents  into  disrepute.  They 
therefore  so  misrepresented  the  teachers  in  their  motives  or 
actings,  in  their  opinions  or  purposes,  as  to  make  the 
"Gentiles  evil-affected  against"  them.  It  might  be  easily 


116  PAUL  AT  ICONIUM. 

done — by  a  bold  caricature,  satirical  ingenuity,  or  direct 
and  unblushing  falsehood.  Whatever  might  be  the  pro- 
cess, the  result  was  that  the  unbelieving  Jews  "made 
their  minds  evil-affected  against  the  brethren  " — literally, 
"  made  bad  their  souls  " — the  brethren  being  the  new  con- 
verts, whether  of  heathen  or  Hebrew  extraction.  This  un- 
principled opposition  detained  the  missionaries  to  confront 
it,  and  therefore  "long  time  they  abode "  in  Iconium.  Such 
was  the  amount  of  their  success,  and  such  the  enmity  it 
had  provoked,  that  they  resolved  to  remain,  to  live  down 
the  calumnies  uttered  against  themselves,  and  to  confirm 
the  disciples.  And  they  spake  boldly — undismayed  by  the 
danger.  It  was  no  cowardly  and  private  interview  that 
they  held,  they  did  not  crouch  because  threatening  assailed 
them.  Nor  did  they  exchange  a  verity  for  a  perhaps, 
descending  from  certainty  to  probability.  Neither  did  they 
so  mutilate  the  gospel  as  to  win  over  opposition,  explaining 
away  or  modifying  what  was  most  unpalatable  to  their 
antagonists.  No;  the  same  truths  they  openly  and  un- 
dauntedly proclaimed,  and  their  boldness  rested  on  a  true 
foundation — in  the  Lord — as  its  source  or  sphere ;  in  Him 
whom  they  preached,  and  whom  they  served,  the  story 
of  whose  career  filled  their  sermons,  and  whose  Spirit 
accompanied  their  ministrations. 

Nor  was  their  trust  unwarranted,  for  the  Lord  sup- 
ported them,  as  He  "  gave  testimony  to  the  word  of  His 
grace,  and  granted  signs  and  wonders  to  be  done  by 
their  hands."  He  gave  testimony  to  the  word  of  His 
grace, — "bore  witness  to  its  heavenly  origin  and  its  truth  j 
by  wonders  in  themselves,  and  which,  as  being  out  of 


MIRACLES.  117 

the  usual  course  of  nature,  were  signs — tokens  of  divine 
interposition.  These  the  Lord  granted  to  be  done  by 
their  hands  —  the  privilege  of  being  His  instruments 
was  conferred  upon  them.  His  power  alone  can  work 
a  miracle — all  created  power  is  unable  to  the  task.  He 
works  in  His  ordinary  form,  and  in  unison  with  His  own 
established  order,  and  we  call  it  nature :  He  works  in  an 
unusual  way,  apparently  in  opposition  to  His  ordinary 
methods,  but  yet  in  harmony  with  some  higher  law,  and 
we  call  it  miracle.  The  apostles  had  no  discretionary 
power  of  working  miracles ;  only  when  the  Lord  granted 
it,  and  they  were  rilled  with  Him — were  en  rapport  with 
Him — could  they  do  signs  and  wonders.  The  city  was 
rent  into  two  factions,  some  taking  part  with,  and  as  many, 
or  perhaps  more,  taking  part  against  the  preachers,  here  both 
termed  "  apostles,"  though  only  one  of  them  possessed  apos- 
tolical commission.  A  conspiracy  was  formed,  Jews  and 
Gentiles  sinking  their  mutual  antipathies  in  their  common 
hatred  of  Christianity.  The  rulers  of  the  Jews,  as  well  as 
the  common  mob,  were  concerned  in  it.  The  resolution  to 
"  stone "  the  missionaries  shows  that  the  Jews  were  the 
ringleaders,  stoning  being  a  special  penalty  under  Jewish 
law.  But  intelligence  of  it  reached  the  apostles  ere  the 
plot  was  ripe.  They  therefore  left  the  city  and  fled  the 
province,  crossing  the  desert  into  Lystra  and  Derbe,  and 
making  occasional  tours  into  the  surrounding  country. 

But  their  work  was  the  same ;  whether  in  city  or  country, 
in  garden  or  desert,  "  there  they  preached — were  preaching 
the  gospel " — told  the  same  good  news  to  all  with  whom 
they  came  in  contact ;  did  not  invent  another  gospel,  but 


118  PAUL  AT  ICONIUM. 

proclaimed  the  glad  tidings  which  had  brought  persecution 
on  them  both  in  Antioch  and  Iconium.  The  gospel — well 
named  it  is,  for  it  is  "good  news  from  a  far  country" — the 
happy  news  that  God's  Son  has  appeared  in  our  nature  and 
died  to  save  us.  Such  a  visit  as  that  of  the  Son  of  God  to 
the  world ;  such  a  mystery  as  that  of  the  incarnation,  the 
babe  in  the  manger ;  such  a  tragedy  as  that  of  the  cross,  the 
Lord  of  glory  hanged  on  a  tree ;  such  a  salvation  in  rich- 
ness as  that  offered  in  His  name  without  stint,  and  in  free- 
ness  as  that  proclaimed  on  His  authority  without  reserve ; 
the  assurance  of  pardon,  purity,  peace,  and  glory,  suspended 
neither  on  previous  qualification  nor  on  subsequent  merit, 
but  patent  to  every  humble  and  believing  recipient — are 
not  these  the  substance  of  the  gospel?  And  if  all  men 
are  in  immediate  need  of  these  blessings,  and  if  they 
are  revealed,  provided,  sealed,  and  applied  nowhere  else, 
need  we  wonder  that  Paul  and  Barnabas  persisted  in 
preaching  the  gospel  ?  Noble  benefactors,  we  honour  your 
services ;  we  admire  your  heroism  as  we  weep  over  your 
trials.  They  were  the  seal  of  your  sincerity,  the  libation 
poured  out  upon  your  faith.  Blessings  rest  "  on  the 
head "  of  the  man,  "  on  the  crown  of  the  head  of  him 
separate  from  his  brethren  "  for  the  purpose  of  carrying 
the  same  gospel  to  distant  countries.  He  is  a  true  suc- 
cessor of  the  apostles,  who  in  their  spirit  does  their  work. 
Far  rather  be  Paul  than  Ca3sar ;  far  rather  be  the  apostle 
of  China  than  the  hero  of  Waterloo,  the  originator  of 
a  new  translation  of  the  scriptures  than  the  author  of 
"Waverley;"  far  rather  carry  the  scrip  of  a  missionary 
than  the  sword  of  a  conqueror ;  far  rather  be  Neff  than 


DIGNITY  OF  MISSIONS.  119 

Nimrod.  Evangelical  labours  win  a  crown  which  cannot 
fade  away  in  heaven,  and  the  time  is  fast  approaching 
when  it  shall  be  true  of  such  a  labourer  on  earth  that — 

"  The  might 

Of  the  whole  world's  good  wishes  with  him  goes ; 
Blessings  and  prayers,  in  nobler  retinue 
Than  sceptred  king  or  laurelled  conqueror  knows, 
Follow  this  wondrous  potentate." 


VIL— PAUL   AT   LYSTRA. 


ACTS  xiv.  8-21 ;  2  TIMOTHY  iii.  11. 


THE  apostle  had  come  to  Lystra,  about  twenty  miles  south 
from  Iconium.  The  road  traversed  a  bleak  and  exposed 
country,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  province — "  the  region 
that  lyeth  round  about " — partook  of  the  same  character. 
It  was  so  remote  and  uninviting,  that  the  population  seems 
to  have  remained  unaffected  by  the  great  changes  which 
Grecian  literature  and  Roman  subjugation  had  wrought  in 
western  Asia.  In  the  same  way  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  saw 
many  extensive  tracts  in  the  north  of  Scotland,  which  were 
out  of  the  sweep  and  circuit  of  revolutionizing  influences 
— wild,  moorish  districts,  the  sparse  population  of  which 
adhered  to  the  languages,  superstitions,  and  costumes  of 
their  fathers;  understanding  English,  but  not  caring  to 
speak  it ;  or,  when  able  to  use  it,  yet,  under  any  sudden 
impulse,  breaking  out  into  a  Celtic  exclamation. 

At  Lystra  the  apostle  Paul  wrought  a  miracle.  The 
object  of  it  was  a  cripple ;  not  lame  from  an  accident,  not 
suffering  from  a  temporary  disability,  but  one  who,  from 
some  congenital  defect,  "  never  had  walked."  As  he  sat' — 
probably  in  some  thoroughfare,  and  asked  alms,  the  words 
of  the  stranger  arrested  his  attention ;  and  as  he  eagerly 
gazed  up  into  his  face,  Paul  perceived  that  he  had  faith  to 
be  healed — such  faith  as  made  him  the  fitting  subject  of  a 


THE  CRIPPLE  HEALED.  121 

miracle,  or  that  state  of  mind  which  disposed  him  to  receive 
that  salvation  of  which  the  act  of  healing  was  the  symbol 
and  proof.  Perhaps  the  apostle  was  speaking  of  the 
Lord's  miracles  of  healing  as  the  evidence  of  His  mission 
and  outgrowth  of  His  sympathy,  and  the  cripple  might  be 
musing  within  himself  that,  if  he  had  been  in  Judea, 
Christ  could  and  would  have  healed  him.  As  he  listened, 
those  inner  cogitations  pictured  themselves  on  his  counte- 
nance, and  might  be  read  there  by  an  onlooker,  even  though 
he  had  not  the  gift  of  "  discerning  of  spirits  " — 

His  eloquent  blood 

Spoke  in  his  face,  and  so  distinctly  wrought, 
That  one  would  say  his  body  thought. 

The  apostle,  "steadfastly  beholding  him,"  with  a  loud 
voice  uttered  the  words  of  power — "  Stand  upright  on  thy 
feet."  There  was  no  manipulation  of  his  limbs — no  appli- 
cation of  an  electric  current  to  stimulate  dormant  energy. 
The  command  being  given,  the  cripple  did  not  slowly 
and  painfully  gather  up  and  adjust  his  limbs,  and  try  to 
balance  himself,  but  at  once  he  "  leaped  "  to  his  feet  "  and 
walked."  The  spectators  were  amazed— they  could  not 
account  for  it.  It  was  a  cure  far  beyond  the  reach  of 
human  surgery,  and  they  could  ascribe  it  only  to  divine 
power.  And  as  they  knew  nothing  of  a  miracle — of  a 
work  done  by  a  man  through  power  lent  to  him  by  God — 
they  came  to  the  natural  conclusion,  that  he  who  had  done 
it  was  a  god  in  human  disguise.  Therefore  they  exclaimed, 
in  their  own  vernacular,  "  The  gods  are  come  down  in  the 
likeness  of  men."  Their  own  legends  had  told  them  of  a 
similar  visit  at  a  former  epoch,  and  surely  what  had  hap- 


122  PAUL  AT  LYSTRA. 

pened  once  might  occur  again.  The  deed  was  one  of  such 
power  and  benevolence,  so  plainly  superhuman  in  its  style, 
that  they  supposed  it  to  be  the  feat  of  a  god. 

And  so  it  was,  though  not  as  they  imagined.  For  God 
had  indeed  come  in  man's  likeness — "  Immanuel,  God  with 
us,"  had  verified  the  appellation  in  word  and  deed — had 
walked  on  the  waves,  and  had  raised  the  dead.  In  conse- 
quence of  this  manifestation  of  God  in  flesh,  Paul  had 
received  the  commission  under  which  he  now  acted,  and 
was  endowed  with  the  healing  power  which  he  had  just  put 
forth.  A  proud  philosophy  would  have  laboured  to  explain 
the  miracle,  or,  perhaps,  to  impugn  it ;  would  have  prated 
of  the  occult  powers  of  nature,  or  suggested  something 
about  the  effect  of  a  sudden  surprise,  or  the  secret  sym- 
pathy of  magnetic  influence.  But  the  untutored  pagans 
dipped  not  into  such  mysteries,  did  not  do  violence  to 
their  first  convictions,  and  came  far  nearer  the  truth  when 
they  exclaimed  in  awe  and  wonder,  "  The  gods  are  come 
down  to  us  in  the  likeness  of  men."  There  are  few 
nations  that  refuse  a  belief  in  such  theophanies,  whether  it 
spring  from  instinctive  suggestion,  or  be  the  lingering  lesson 
of  old  tradition.  Humanity  rejoices  to  believe  that  it  is 
not  uncared  for  by  Him  who  is  good  as  well  as  great  ;  that 
He  who  made  the  world  is  not  so  high  and  distant  that 
He  may  not  visit  it ;  and  is  not  so  far  removed  beyond 
us,  or  so  alien  to  us,  that  He  may  not  clothe  Himself  with 
our  nature  as  He  descends  to  bless  us.  The  notion  is  a 
wide  one,  spreading  from  India  to  Peru,  however  it  may 
vary  in  different  creeds  or  mythologies — that  God  has 
stooped  to  the  senses,  and  spoken  to  the  hearts  of  His 


GODS   IN   THE   LIKENESS   OF   MEN.  123 

creatures  as  He  walked  among  them,  and  left  traces  and 
tokens  of  His  presence  behind  Him.  Homer,  representing 
the  popular  belief,  sings  of  the  gods — 

"They,  curious  oft  of  mortal  actions,  deign 
In  forms  like  these  to  round  the  earth  and  main." 

A  Latin  poet,  telling  a  legend  connected  with  Lycaonia 
and  Lycaon  its  mythical  sovereign,  represents  Jupiter  as 
saying,  when  rumours  of  wickedness  had  reached  him — 

"  I  will  descend,  said  I, 
In  hope  to  prove  the  loud  complaint  a  lie ; 
Disguised  in  human  shape,  I  travelled  round 
The  world,  and  more  than  what  I  heard  I  found." 

The  god  came  into  this  province ;  the  people  worshipped ; 
but  the  tyrant,  laughing  outright  at  their  stupidity, 
resolved  to  put  the  divine  stranger  to  the  test,  and  served 
up  human  flesh  for  his  repast.  The  indignant  Jove  over- 
turned the  table  and  fired  the  palace,  while  the  profane 
scoffer,  on  fleeing  to  the  woods,  was  transformed  into  a 
wolf,  whence,  as  was  popularly  supposed,  the  name  of  the 
kingdom.  Jupiter  and  Mercury  were  often  associated,  and 
it  was  believed  that  both  had  visited  a  neighbouring  pro- 
vince, or  rather  a  province  of  which  Lycaonia  was  one 
of  the  districts — 

"  Jove  with  Hermes  came,  hut  in  disguise 
Of  mortal  men  concealed  their  deities." 

When  the  rest  of  the  people  refused  to  receive  them, 
both  had  been  kindly  entertained  by  Philemon  and  Baucis, 
a  worthy  couple  who  for  their  piety  were  saved  from 
that  inundation  which  the  enraged  divinities  sent  upon 


124  PAUL  AT  LYSTRA. 

the  country.  Now,  might  these  scenes  of  their  mythology 
be  re-enacted?  Barnabas,  from  his  more  august  appear- 
ance, they  took  to  be  Jupiter,  and  Paul  Hermes,  as  "  the 
chief  speaker."  Grant  them  their  premises,  and  you  cannot 
withhold  their  conclusion.  If  the  gods  in  human  shape 
had  honoured  their  city,  and  favoured  them  with  such  a 
token  of  their  benignant  power,  if  they  had  left  Olympus 
and  come  to  Lycaonia,  surely  it  became  the  citizens  of 
Lystra  to  honour  their  illustrious  guests — to  do  homage 
and  sacrifice  to  the  propitious  divinities.  The  priest  only 
acted  as  became  him,  when  he  would  bring  a  victim  to  the 
god  he  served,  and  to  whose  temple  he  was  attached. 
Jupiter's  image — or  rather  his  temple — was  "  before 
their  city,"  and  he  was  its  divine  patron  and  guardian. 
His  priest  brought  "oxen  and  garlands,"  the  one  to  be 
sacrificed,  and  the  other  to  ornament  the  residence  of  Zeus 
and  Hermes.  Such  was  a  common  ceremonial :  and  thus 
the  Twin-gods  speak  in  a  well-known  lay — 

"  Our  house  in  gay  Tarentum, 

Is  hung  each  morn  with  flowers." 

Is  not  such  conduct  on  the  part  of  the  priest  and  populace 
a  rebuke  to  those  who,  admitting  that  God  came  down  in 
man's  nature,  and  laid  aside  the  splendours  of  His  God- 
head, neglect  or  refuse  to  render  to  Him  the  homage 
and  service  to  which  He  is  entitled?  These  unsophisti- 
cated heathens  acted  faithfully  up  to  their  light  ;  but  men 
with  the  Bible  in  their  hands,  the  great  portrait  in  which 
is  God  incarnate,  are  strangely  indifferent  to  its  lessons  and 
untrue  to  themselves.  That  priest  who  "  would  have  done 


LANGUAGE  OF  LYCAONIA.  125 

sacrifice  with  the  people"  is  a  "swift  witness"  against 
such  inconsistency. 

The  historian  tells  us  that  the  crowd  made  their  strange 
exclamation  in  the  speech  of  Lycaonia.  What  it  was  we 
know  not,  as  no  remains  of  it  have  been  preserved.  Some 
philologists  have  thought  it  a  Shemitic  or  Assyrian  dialect, 
and  some  a  Pelasgic  or  Greek  one ;  a  dispute  not  unlike 
that  about  the  old  Pictish  tongue  in  Scotland,  whether  it 
were  a  Celtic  or  a  Gothic  speech.  Two  words  of  Lycaonian 
and  only  one  of  Pictish  have  been  accidentally  preserved. 
But  the  remark  seems  to  be  introduced  for  the  purpose 
of  explaining  how  the  preachers  did  not  sooner  interpose, 
and  put  an  end  to  the  idolatrous  project.  They  had  been 
speaking  in  Greek,  which  the  Lystrians  quite  well  under- 
stood, but  in  a  moment  of  sudden  excitement  they  cried 
in  their  mother  tongue.  "  Barnabas  and  Paul " — Barnabas 
occupying  his  old  place  once  more,  as  the  Lycaonians 
had  styled  him  Jupiter — did  not  understand  it ;  could  not 
interpret  the  Lycaonian  exclamation,  and  never,  therefore, 
dreamed  that  they  were  taken  for  gods.  The  possession 
of  the  gift  of  tongues  is  not  inconsistent  with  this  supposi- 
tion. The  working  of  miracles  was,  with  the  apostles^ 
neither  a  perpetual  nor  a  discretionary  power,  but  only 
granted  when  occasion  required.  He  who  said,  "  I  thank 
my  God,  I  speak  with  tongues  more  than  ye  all,"  might 
not  understand  the  dialect  of  Lycaonia,  for  he  needed  not 
to  preach  in  it,  and  thus  had  not  at  the  moment  the  ability 
either  of  utterance  or  of  interpretation.  Therefore  it  was 
not  till  they  beheld  the  overt  act,  and  saw  the  procession — 
the  priest  and  the  axe,  the  bulls  and  the  crowns — that  they 


126 


PAUL  AT   LYSTKA. 


comprehended  the  meaning  of  the  scene,  rent  their  clothes 
in  dismay  and  sorrow,  and,  springing  into  the  heart  of  th< 
excited  crowd,  laboured  with  no  little  difficulty  to  dissuade 
them  from  their  sinful  and  preposterous  design.  They 
were  struck  with  grief  and  terror  that  they  should  be  sup- 
posed to  be  gods — heathen  deities;  they  who  were  only 
humble  instruments  in  the  Saviour's  hands.  Peter  had 
said,  on  a  similar  occasion — "  Why  look  ye  so  earnestly  on 
us,  as  though  by  our  own  power  or  holiness  we  had  made 
this  man  to  walk  ?"  The  evangelists  were  honest  men,  and 
would  not  impose  upon  the  people,  or  be  guilty  of  a  pious 
fraud.  Nor  would  they  lodge  themselves  in  the  temple, 
and  obtain  possession  of  that  wealth  which  was  often 
stowed  away  in  such  edifices. 

The  "  chief  speaker  "  raised  his  voice,  and  delivered  the 
following  rebuke  and  argument  against  idolatry,  either  the 
worship  of  men  or  dead  and  dumb  idols — "  Sirs,  why  are 
ye  doing  these  things  ?  We,  too,  are  of  like  constitution 
as  you — but  men ;  and  we  are  offering  you  as  glad  tidings 
that  from  these  vanities  ye  turn  away  to  the  living  God, 
who  made  the  heaven,  and  the  earth,  and  the  sea,  and  all  ii 
them ;  who  in  generations  gone  by  suffered  all  the  nations 
to  walk  in  their  own  ways,  though,  indeed,  He  did  n< 
leave  Himself  unwitnessed,  as  He  was  doing  good,  sending 
rains  from  heaven  and  fruitful  seasons,  filling  your  hearts 
with  food  and  gladness."  "jStrs-men" — not  different  from 
our  " gentlemen"  in  the  opening  clause  of  an  address  to  a 
promiscuous  assembly — "  why  do  ye  these  things?"  This 
is  the  first  sentence  of  his  expostulation.  What  an  absurd 
and  frantic  step!  Why  not  assure  yourselves  by  some 


HORROR  AT  BEING  DEIFIED.  127 

other  proofs  ?  We  are  not  gods ;  we  have  not  descended 
from  the  skies.  We  have  no  claim  to  any  rank  higher 
than  that  of  mere  humanity.  We  are  simply  what  we 
seem.  "We  are  men,"  not  men  of  special  lineage  or 
walking  on  some  higher  platform,  but  of  like  passion  with 
you — literally  "homoeopathic  with  you."  Our  nature  is 
yours;  with  the  same  functions  and  susceptibilities,  the 
same  appetites  and  instincts.  When  we  hunger  we  eat; 
when  we  are  thirsty  we  drink ;  when  we  toil  we  are  fatigued; 
we  weep  under  grief;  we  smile  in  our  joy;  and  when 
mortal  disease  comes  upon  us  we  shall  die.  Why  then 
attempt  to  invest  us -with  divinity,  and  offer  sacrifice  to 
us  ?  No  sin  is  so  heinous  or  so  provoking  to  God.  We 
did  not  claim  to  be  gods,  nor  did  we  lead  you  by  any 
words  of  ours  into  such  a  delusion.  Nay  more,  one  special 
object  of  our  mission,  and  our  preaching  of  the  gospel,  is  to 
induce  you  to  abandon  such  idolatrous  follies.  Our  teaching 
is  designed  to  induce  you  to  forsake  them,  and  turn  from 
them  to  the  living  God — who  has  a  real  existence,  as  shown 
by  His  creative  acts  and  providential  bounties.  The  gospel 
proclaims  one  God  "  above  all,  through  all,  and  in  us  all " 
— one  tri-personal  Essence ;  Life,  and  the  source  of  all  life 
in  the  universe.  The  apostle,  in  arguing  against  idolatry, 
does  not  appeal  to  scripture,  and  to  its  many  striking 
assertions,  for  the  people  did  not  know  it,  and  could  not 
recognize  its  authority.  He  takes  common  ground — lower 
ground — that  which  is  furnished  by  natural  theology.  We 
have  here  the  germ  of  the  fuller  argument  against  atheism 
and  polytheism  elaborated  in  the  first  chapter  of  the  epistle 
to  the  Romans. 


128  PAUL  AT  LYSTRA. 

There  are  two  proofs  adduced  by  the  apostle  of  God's 
real  and  sole  existence.  There  is,  first,  proof  of  God's 
existence  as  Creator ;  and  secondly,  the  proof  of  His  con- 
tinued existence  as  Provider.  God  was,  for  He  created 
the  universe.  God  still  is,  for  He  supports  us  in  being 
by  His  goodness.  God  reared  this  stately  fabric,  and 
filled  earth  with  its  appropriate  population;  but  He  has 
not  retired  from  it,  left  it  to  itself,  or  placed  it  under 
the  operation  of  impersonal  law.  He  still  presides  over 
it,  and  in  His  uniform  kindness,  care,  and  government, 
presents  a  perpetual  monument  of  His  being  and  benefi- 
cence. Creation  testifies  that  He  did  exist;  providence 
is  a  witness  that  He  still  exists;  and  the  movements  of 
providence  are  successive  acts  of  creation.  "  We  preach 
unto  you,"  says  the  expostulator,  or  rather  "we  bring 
the  gospel  to  you"  in  order  to  supersede  those  delusions. 
The  object  of  the  apostle  was  to  overthrow,  but  also  to 
build  up.  Argument  might  show  the  fallacy  of  idolatry, 
and  satire  like  Isaiah's  might  expose  it ;  but  the  heart 
meanwhile  was  not  to  be  left  without  some  object  of 
worship.  The  true  was  to  displace  the  fictitious,  for 
faith  in  a  Saviour-God,  expels  all  false  theology.  It 
speaks  of  one  God,  and  bids  us  adore  Him.  It  describes 
His  throne  of  majesty,  but  assures  us  it  is  one  of  grace. 
The  idol  in  that  temple  "  which  was  before  the  city,"  and 
all  others,  were  but  "vanities."  They  have  no  being,  they 
cannot  stir;  a  nail  holds  them  in  their  place,  and  they 
need  to  be  carried  should  their  place  be  changed.  Though 
they  have  the  semblance  of  humanity,  they  are  inferior  to 
man  who  makes  them.  "  They  have  mouths,  but  they 


FOLLY  OF  IDOLATRY.  129 

speak  not ;  eyes  have  they,  but  they  see  not ;  they  have  ears, 
but  they  hear  not;  noses  have  they,  but  they  smell  not; 
they  have  hands,  but  they  handle  not ;  feet  have  they,  but 
they  walk  not;  neither  speak  they  through  their  throats." 
Jupiter  and  Mercury  are  but  vanities — nonentities;  "an 
idol  is  nothing  in  the  world,"  there  are  no  such  things. 
Mahomet  could  call  the  idols  of  his  country  "  bits  of 
black  wood."  When  an  image  of  the  Virgin  was  brought 
to  Knox  in  the  French  gallies,  and  he  was  asked  to  adore 
it,  he  called  out  that  it  was  no  goddess,  only  a  "  pented 
bredd "  (painted  board),  and  tossed  it  into  the  Loire. 
But  God  is  the  living  God — a  spirit  and  everywhere — the 
one  God — the  one  Will  that  guides  and  controls.  The 
idols  are  dead,  are  but  inert  matter,  having  no  more 
divinity  in  them  than  the  rock  out  of  which  they  were 
hewn,  the  metal  with  which  they  were  moulded,  or  the 
tree  which  got  its  deified  shape  from  axe,  saw,  and  chisel. 
But  the  living  God  is  Creator,  and  the  one  Creator ;  ay, 
Creator  of  the  very  materials  out  of  which  these  false  gods 
are  framed.  "  He  made  heaven,  and  earth,  and  the  sea, 
and  all  things  that  are  therein."  The  three  terms  describe 
the  universe.  There  are  not  more  Gods  than  one,  each 
claiming  a  separate  jurisdiction  and  jealous  of  intrusion, 
such  as  Jupiter,  Neptune,  and  Pluto.  The  one  living 
God  brought  all  into  being,  and  governs  all  by  indefea- 
sible right. 

He  "  made  heaven  " — the  sky  with  its  orbs,  the  sun  in 
his  splendour,  rising,  ascending,  sinking,  and  setting ;  the 
moon  "  walking  in  brightness,"  planets  and  constellations 
rejoicing  in  their  courses,  "the  sweet  influence  of  the 


130  PAUL   AT   LYSTRA. 

Pleiades,  Mazzaroth  in  his  season,  and  Arcturus  with  his 
sons."  Not  the  heaven  only,  but  "all  things  therein" — 
the  fowls  that  "fly  in  the  face"  of  it,  armies  of  bright- 
coloured  butterflies,  myriads  of  gnats,  the  gathering  clouds 
and  the  refreshing  shower,  the  light  of  day  and  the  darkness 
of  night.  The  earth,  too,  and  all  that  is  in  it — its  green 
carpet  enamelled  with  flowers  of  every  hue,  and  scented 
with  herbs  of  every  fragrance ;  its  trees,  "  from  the  cedar 
which  is  in  Lebanon  to  the  hyssop  that  springeth  out  of 
the  wall;"  its  "pastures  clothed  with  flocks,"  and  "its 
valleys  also  covered  over  with  corn ; "  its  mountains 
bearing  on  their  brow  the  snows  of  ages ;  its  forests  vocal 
with  birds  of  every  note  and  plumage,  "  singing  among 
its  branches;"  its  animals,  fierce  and  tame;  "all  sheep 
and  oxen,  yea,  and  the  beasts  of  the  field."  The  sea,  too, 
and  all  that  is  in  it — river,  lake,  and  ocean — smooth  as  a 
floor  or  heaving  in  fury,  when  "  the  waters  thereof  roar 
and  be  troubled  " — with  the  monster  in  its  depths,  and  the 
minnow  in  its  shallows — "this  great  and  wide  sea,  wherein 
are  things  creeping  innumerable, both  small  and  great  beasts; 
there  go  the  ships ;  there  is  that  leviathan  whom  thou  hast 
made  to  play  therein."  The  universe,  with  its  furniture 
and  population,  is  the  work  of  God — a  condemnation  of 
atheism;  of  the  one  living  God — a  protest  against  poly- 
theism ;  and  the  fact  that  He  made  it  shows  that  it  is  no 
necessary  emanation  or  co-eternal  phenomenon — a  warning 
against  pantheism.  The  apostle  employs  no  metaphysical 
argument  as  to  the  nature  and  connection  of  cause  and 
effect;  discusses  not  the  question,  whether  a  finite  effect 
can  warrant  the  conclusion  of  an  infinite  cause ;  dwells  not 


DIVINE  LONG-SUFFERING.  131 

upon  the  notion  of  the  eternity  of  matter  so  current  in  Greek 
philosophy ;  enters  into  no  speculations  on  the  relation 
which  physical  or  ethical  law  has  to  a  lawgiver,  or  power 
has  to  a  person ;  speaks  neither  of  necessary  intuitions  nor 
of  formal  logical  processes ;  puts  not  the  truth  as  either  a 
theorem  to  be  proved,  or  a  problem  to  be  solved,  but  at 
once  asserts  God's  sole  existence.  In  the  first  chapter  of 
the  epistle  to  the  Romans,  the  apostle  writes  the  argument ; 
and,  before  the  Athenian  sages  on  Mars-hill,  he  spoke  it 
with  vivid  energy. 

The  crowd  so  challenged  might  wonder  why,  if  idolatry 
was  such  sin  and  folly,  it  was  not  sooner  checked.  The 
apostle  adds,  that  "God  in  times  past  suffered  all  nations  to 
walk  in  their  own  ways."  Not  that  idolatry,  as  displacing 
Him,  was  not  offensive  to  Him,  but  that  He  took  no  active 
measures  to  check  it.  Only  one  people  had  divine  instruc- 
tors, and  their  oracles  are  full  of  fulminations  against 
idolatry.  The  nations  walking  in  their  own  ways — not 
in  paths  presented  by  God,  could  never  rise  above  poly- 
theism, nor  reason  themselves  out  of  it.  "  Hath  a  nation 
changed  their  gods,  which  are  yet  no  gods?"  And  still, 
though  the  nations  were  tolerated  in  their  gross  absurdities, 
and  no  special  herald  was  sent  to  proclaim  the  nullity  of 
"gods  many  and  lords  many,"  yet  those  nations  were  guilty 
of  disloyalty,  for  God  "  never  left  Himself  without  witness." 
"  They  were  without  excuse,  because  that  which  may  be 
known  of  God  is  manifest  in  them,  for  God  hath  showed  it 
unto  them."  This  is  the  second  branch  of  the  apostle's 
argument.  The  providence  of  God  is  a  perpetual  witness 
for  Him.  Had  there  been  no  such  continuous  and  mighty 


132  PAUL  AT  LYSTRA. 

evidence  pressing  upon  all  sides,  and  ever  multiplying  its 
force  as  men  gave  themselves  to  the  contemplation  of  it, 
the  culpability  of  the  idolatrous  nations  would  have  been 
proportionably  diminished,  and  the  aggravations  of  their 
crime  exceedingly  modified.  But  they  were  "  without 
excuse."  God  "  never  left  Himself  without  witness." 
There  were  hosts  of  monitors  ever  pointing  to  Him,  as  they 
ceaselessly  reminded  men  of  His  being  and  goodness.  He 
was  ever  doing  good.  Such  benefaction  should  have  led 
men  to  the  divine  Benefactor.  That  good  was  too  uniform 
to  have  come  from  chance ;  too  rich  in  itself,  and  involving 
the  exercise  of  too  vast  a  power,  to  have  sprung  from  any 
created  source ;  and  too  skilfully  adapted  to  human  wants, 
yea,  too  surely  promotive  of  human  happiness,  to  have  been 
the  result  of  inert  and  mindless  mechanism.  The  good 
done  and  daily  done,  often  elaborated  by  secret  processes, 
and  enjoyed  by  men  in  its  ultimate  maturity,  should  have 
been  traced  to  the  one  source. 

The  preacher  now  particularizes — "  Giving  us  rain  from 
heaven,  and  fruitful  seasons" — the  cause  and  the  results. 
Kain  in  those  countries  is  more  marked  in  its  periods  and 
its  beneficial  influence,  than  with  us.  Every  eye  there 
beholds  the  blessed  change  which  the  shower  produces. 
The  earth  is  covered  with  verdure,  and  nature  assumes  a 
mantle  of  living  freshness.  The  grain  rises  in  the  blade 
and  the  trees  burst  into  foliage.  There  is  heard  on  all  sides 
the  music  of  a  thousand  rills.  "  Are  there  any  among 
the  vanities  of  the  Gentiles  that  can  cause  rain?"  is  the 
challenge  of  a  Hebrew  prophet.  Their  Jupiter  could  not 
create  the  dark  cloud,  and  bid  it  distil  its  blessing.  One 


1 


RAIN   A   DIVINE   BLESSINO.  133 

Being  of  power  and  wisdom  and  goodness  can  alone  give  rain 
—rains,  as  the  apostle  phrases  it — at  the  appointed  seasons, 
and  by  the  laws  which  He  has  established.  The  vapour 
ascending  and  floating  invisibly  in  the  upper  regions  of  the 
atmosphere,  forming,  as  Moses  describes  it,  "  waters  above 
the  firmament,"  waits  the  period  when  it  shall  descend 
and  fertilize  the  ground.  The  rain  connects  the  three 
regions,  heaven,  earth,  and  sea,  which  the  apostle  has  men- 
tioned. Ascending  from  the  sea  and  gathering  into  a  secret 
reservoir  in  the  heavens,  thence  to  fall  upon  the  earth,  it 
returns  to  the  sea — "  into  the  place  from  whence  the  rivers 
come,  thither  they  return  again." 

And  rain  indicates  sovereign  power  and  goodness — "it 
tarrieth  not  for  man,  nor  waiteth  for  the  sons  of  men." 
In  seasons  of  eastern  drought,  when  the  earth  is  parched, 
when  "  the  field  is  wasted,  and  the  land  mourneth,  and 
the  new  wine  is  dried  up,"  when  the  dread  of  hunger 
appals  every  one,  and  even  the  dumb  brutes  are  looking 
up  to  heaven  in  stupid  despair;  then  it  is  felt  that  man 
cannot  help  himself,  that  he  must  only  wait  and  long 
and  pray  till  the  clouds  begin  to  gather,  for  he  is  conscious 
of  being  wholly  in  the  power  of  a  higher  Will.  Day 
after  day  passes,  and  the  sun  looks  down  on  burnt 
pasture,  dry  channels,  and  a  cracked  and  dusty  soil. 
At  evening  there  are  hopeful  symptoms,  but  they  are 
vanished  before  the  morning.  The  heavens  are  anxiously 
scanned  if  the  smallest  speck  may  be  discovered,  and  the 
imagination  often  creates  it.  It  is  hoped  that  the  wind 
may  veer,  and  every  breath  excites,  and  then  belies  such 
an  expectation.  Spirit  and  energy  are  gone — "  dimness  of 


134  PAUL  AT  LYSTRA. 

anguish "  is  seen  on  every  countenance.  Men  dream 
of  floods,  and  waken  to  more  disappointment.  They  can 
do  nothing,  and  devise  nothing,  to  better  themselves.  No 
wonder,  then,  that  the  giving  of  rain  was  associated  with 
divinity.  It  is  pointedly  asked  in  a  Greek  drama,  when  the 
existence  of  Jupiter  is  denied — "And  who  then  giveth  rain?" 
as  if  this  were  proof  beyond  all  doubt.  In  southern  Africa, 
where  the  idea  of  God  is  nearly  effaced,  there  is  still  a  belief 
in  a  Supreme  Power,  whose  awful  prerogative  is,  not  to 
create  men  or  govern  them,  but  simply  to  give  rain — a  gift 
which  is  felt  to  be  so  necessary,  and  withal  is  conferred 
or  withheld  in  such  precarious  and  variable  times  and 
quantities ;  the  dreaded  Deity  is  He  who  brings  them  what 
they  so  much  want,  and  on  the  gift  of  which  they  can  never 
count — He  is  the  rain-maker.  Nay,  in  that  dry  upland 
region  of  Lycaonia  water  was  often  scarce  ;  the  heaven  as 
iron,  and  the  earth  as  brass,  and  water  fetched  up  from 
deep  wells  was  so  precious  as  to  be  sold  for  money.  It 
was  with  peculiar  point,  therefore,  that  the  apostle  turned 
his  audience  to  God — who  is  doing  good — giving  rain  from 
heaven.  This  was  the  special  token  of  His  goodness. 

And  the  result  is,  that  He  who  gives  rain,  gives  "  fruitful 
seasons."  The  seasons,  as  they  revolve,  tell  the  same  lesson. 
They  come  with  perfect  regularity,  as  the  earth  moves  round 
its  orbit.  And  they  are  "fruitful  seasons  " — crops  ripening 
for  the  sickle — the  vine  bowed  down  with  ruddy  clusters — 
the  tree  covered  with  its  fruits — all  the  benefactions  of  Him 
who  is  ever  doing  good,  and  "  filling  our,"  or  rather  "  your, 
hearts  with  food  and  gladness."  This  clause  is  a  compacted 
form  of  speech,  the  sense  being  that,  when  men  are  filled 


CONTRASTED  EFFECTS  OF  A  MIRACLE.  135 

with  food,  and  life  is  sustained  and  prolonged,  their  hearts 
are  also  filled  with  gladness — their  existence  is  cheered  and 
"blessed.  "  The  eyes  of  all  wait  on  Thee,  and  Thou  givest 
them  their  meat  in  due  season ;  Thou  openest  thine  hand, 
and  satisfiest  the  desire  of  every  living  thing."  The 
apostle's  earnest  protestation  scarcely  restrained  the  people, 
"that  they  had  not  done  sacrifice  unto  them" — so  convinced 
were  they  that  it  was  a  real  epiphany,  and  so  delighted 
were  they  with  the  honour  of  it. 

We  may  pause  for  a  moment  and  look  at  the  contrast 
which  Jerusalem  presents  to  Lystra.  Upon  "  a  man  lame 
from  his  mother's  womb,"  and  now  forty  years  of  age,  a 
similar  miracle  had  been  "  showed  "  at  the  word  of  Peter. 
But  the  result  was  not  his  deification,  but  his  imprison- 
ment. His  judges  admit  that  a  "  notable  miracle  "  had 
been  done ;  indeed,  "  beholding  the  man  which  was  healed 
standing  with  them,  they  could  say  nothing  against  it ;" 
but  enraged  by  it,  they  "  straitly  threatened"  the  apostles 
that  they  speak  no  more  in  Christ's  name.  They  would 
not  listen  to  the  teaching,  nor  bow  to  the  wonder  by  which 
its  truth  was  confirmed.  Their  minds  were  hardened  and 
beyond  conviction,  and  by  various  theories  they  might  try 
to  account  for  the  phenomenon.  But  the  Lycaonians  did 
not  reason,  and  came  at  once  to  a  conclusion,  which,  though 
wrong  in  its  immediate  application,  had  yet  such  truth  in 
it  as  shames  the  boasted  enlightenment  of  the  Jewish 
council.  Thus  there  is  more  hope  of  the  untutored  than  of 
the  proudly  civilized ;  more  hope  of  the  Samoan  than  of  the 
Brahmin  who  must  first  unlearn  all  his  subtleties,  and  strip 
off  his  traditionary  prejudices,  before  he  can  "  receive  the 


136  PAUL  AT  LYSTRA. 

kingdom  of  God  as  a  little  child."  It  was  nature  at 
Lystra  "feeling  after  the  Lord"  —  it  was  Sadducean 
philosophy  in  the  spiritual  court  of  Jerusalem.  The  one 
was  open  to  proof,  the  other  was  shut  up  in  cold  and 
supercilious  negation.  The  one  might  blunder  in  its  eager- 
ness, but  the  other  was  wrapped  in  continuous  and  immov- 
able falsehood.  The  one  deified  two  men  for  a  moment — 
men  who  had  displayed  the  mercy  and  power  of  God,  and 
the  error  was  soon  rectified ;  but  the  other  humanized 
divinity,  looked  upon  the  "healing" — God's  own  work 
and  witness,  simply  as  done  by  man;  and,  instead  of 
adoring  God  in  it,  were  only  annoyed  at  the  craft  and 
success  of  a  Galilean  fisherman. 

But  a  reaction  soon  occurred  at  Lystra.  The  enemies 
of  the  apostle  pursued  him ;  "  certain  Jews  from  Antioch 
and  Iconium "  maligned  and  misrepresented  him,  and, 
gaining  the  people  over  to  their  views,  proceeded  to  wreak 
their  vengeance  on  him.  These  Jews  seem  to  have  been 
both  instigators,  and  also  principal  actors — they  stoned  the 
apostle,  as  their  law  enjoined  for  crimes  of  impiety.  In 
the  city  itself,  they  fell  upon  him ;  a  heathen  country  town 
could  not  be,  as  they  thought,  polluted  by  such  a  murder. 
It  was  not  like  holy  Jerusalem,  out  of  which  Stephen  must 
be  hurried  before  he  was  put  to  death ;  but  they  dragged 
Paul  out  of  Lystra,  "  supposing  he  had  been  dead."  He 
who  had  been  taken  for  a  god  was  stoned  as  a  malefactor 
— apotheosis  followed  by  martyrdom.  The  Lystrians  must 
have  been  sorely  affronted  at  their  mistake,  and  they  hated 
him  who  had  so  honestly  undeceived  them.  The  Jews  must 
have  told  them  too,  that  so  far  from  being  a  god,  Paul  was 


SUDDEN   REACTION.  137 

the  foe  of  the  gods  and  detested  by  them,  that  he  was 
in  league  with  the  dark  powers,  and  deserved  not  to  live. 
Such  revulsions  are  not  uncommon  with  uneducated 
and  impulsive  people.  The  islanders  of  Crete  took  Paul, 
first  for  a  murderer,  and  then  for  a  deity.  When  the  Gauls, 
nigh  four  hundred  years  before  Christ,  invaded  Italy,  and 
entered  Rome,  they  found  the  city  deserted ;  but  as  they 
entered  the  forum,  they  were  met  with  the  strange  spec- 
tacle of  fourscore  aged  and  white-bearded  priests  and 
patricians  ranged  in  order,  each  in  his  robes  of  state  and 
seated  on  his  curule  chair  of  ivory.  At  first  they  were 
awed,  as  if  the  sires  had  been  gods ;  but  no  sooner  did  one 
of  them  resent  an  act  of  familiarity,  than  the  spell  was 
suddenly  broken,  and  the  whole  body  were  at  once  set  upon 
and  dispatched.  It  is  said,  too,  that  it  was  not  till  the 
natives  of  that  South  Sea  island  where  Captain  Cook  was 
slain,  discovered,  by  his  wincing  under  an  accidental  blow, 
that  he  was  a  man  "of  like  passions"  with  themselves, 
that  they  ventured  to  surround  and  stab  him. 

"As  the  disciples  stood  round  him"  in  grief  and  con- 
sternation, the  apostle  was  resuscitated;  a  miracle  was 
wrought  upon  him,  for  at  once  "  he  rose  up  and  came  into 
the  city."  His  enemies,  terrified  at  seeing  him  whom 
they  had  stoned,  drawn  along  the  street,  and  left  for  dead, 
would  not  venture  again  to  assault  him:  their  labour 
was  fruitless,  stones  were  hurled  at  him  in  vain,  he  could 
not  as  yet  be  killed.  "  Once  was  I  stoned,"  says  the 
apostle,  referring  to  this  outrage ;  and  he  reminds  Timothy, 
who,  as  a  native  of  Lystra,  may  have  witnessed  the  scene 
of  "  persecutions  and  afflictions  which  came  unto  me  at 


138  PAUL  AT   LYSTEA. 

Antioch,  at  Iconium,  at  Lystra,"  adding — "  Out  of  them  all 
the  Lord  delivered  me."  Next  day  the  apostle  "  departed 
with  Barnabas  for  Derbe."  Barnabas,  as  being  less 
prominent  in  speech  and  action,  had  escaped  injury.  This 
was  the  farthest  point  of  the  journey,  and,  having  preached 
there  and  taught  many — made  many  converts  or  disciples 
— they  retraced  their  steps  to  Lystra,  to  Iconium,  and 
Antioch,  preaching  words  of  comfort  and  confirmation, 
organizing  the  churches  by  ordaining  elders  over  them, 
and  fortifying  them  against  coming  persecutions.  Then 
"  they  passed  throughout  Pisidia  "  and  came  to  Pamphylia, 
and  preaching  in  Perga,  descended  to  Attalia,  where  they 
embarked,  and  sailed  to  the  Syrian  Antioch.  From  that 
city  had  they  commenced  their  travels — "  being  recom- 
mended to  the  grace  of  God  for  the  work  which  they 
fulfilled;"  and,  to  the  assembled  church  which  had  sent 
them  out,  they  gave  a  report  of  their  labours,  "  rehearsed 
all  that  God  had  done  with  them,  and  how  He  had  opened 
the  door  of  faith  unto  the  gentiles."  They  rested  now  for 
a  season  in  Antioch  — "  abode  long  time  with  the  dis- 
ciples." And  thus  ends  the  first  great  missionary  tour  of 
the  apostle — probably  in  A.D.  47  or  the  following  year. 


VIII.— PAUL  AT  PHILIPPL 

ACTS  xvi.  6-40.     1  THESS.  ii.  2.     PHIL.  i.  30 ;  iv.  15. 

THE  peace  of  the  church  at  Antioch  was  soon  disturbed  by 
Judaists,  who  taught  the  pernicious  dogma — "  Except  ye 
be  circumcised  after  the  manner  of  Moses,  ye  cannot  be 
saved."  To  quell  the  controversy,  Paul  and  Barnabas 
were  sent  as  deputies  to  Jerusalem,  and  Paul  "  went  up  by 
revelation."  A  circular  was  issued  from  the  assembly 
which  discussed  the  question,  and  carried  to  Antioch  by 
special  delegates.  The  deputies  returned  also  to  that  city, 
and  "  continued  in  it,  teaching  and  preaching  the  word  of 
the  Lord."  Prior  to  their  departure  from  Jerusalem,  the 
mission  of  Paul  and  Barnabas  to  the  heathen  was  specially 
recognized  a  by  James,  Cephas,  and  John,  who  seemed  to 
be  pillars."  But  Paul  soon  longed  to  revisit  the  scenes  of 
his  previous  tour,  and  "  see  the  brethren  in  every  city." 
Such  anxiety  uniformly  characterized  him — "  the  care  of 
all  the  churches  "  came  upon  him.  To  live  and  labour  in 
Antioch  was  not  his  vocation.  Barnabas  on  this  occasion 
wished  his  relation  Mark  to  accompany  them,  as  he  had 
previously  done  to  Cyprus.  Paul  opposed  such  a  resolu- 
tion, for  the  young  man  had  deserted  the  enterprise, 
"  departed  from  them  from  Pamphylia,  and  went  not  with 
them  to  the  work."  The  contention  was  sharp,  and  keen 
feelings  sprang  up.  Perhaps  the  tergiversation  of  Barnabas 


140  PAUL   AT   PHILIPPI. 

when  he  had  been  carried  away  with  the  dissimulation  of 
Peter  and  the  other  Jews,  was  not  forgotten.  Probably 
Paul  judged  by  too  high  a  standard,  was  too  resolute  in 
carrying  every  point,  and  allowed  not  for  the  inexperience 
of  Mark — a  mother-sick  youth,  who,  however,  had  now 
returned,  and  was  ready  to  undertake  what  he  had  previ- 
ously shrunk  from.  Alas,  for  human  frailty !  Strange  is 
the  record  that  Paul  and  Barnabas,  who  had  toiled,  travelled, 
taught,  and  suffered  in  company,  should  "  depart  asunder 
one  from  the  other  " — twin  stars,  that  had  revolved  round 
each  other,  shooting  off  at  once  and  for  ever  into  different 
orbits.  The  first  journey  had  begun  with  Cyprus,  and  Bar- 
nabas for  obvious  reasons  chose  it — it  was  his  native  island. 
It  rejoices  us  to  hear  afterwards  from  Paul  that  Barnabas 
wa&  still  prosecuting  the  missionary  enterprise,  "  or  I  only 
and  Barnabas,  have  not  we  power  to  forbear  working?" 
He  who  had  been  the  cause  of  the  dispute  had  also  fully 
redeemed  his  character,  nay,  had  risen  high  in  the  apostle's 
favour,  for  he  says  of  Mark,  "  he  is  profitable  to  me  for  the 
ministry."  Paul  chose  as  a  new  partner,  Silas,  a  prophet 
who  had  come  to  Antioch  with  the  decree.  Shall  we  say 
that  the  church  sympathized  with  Paul  rather  than  Barna- 
bas, when  we  read  of  him  on  his  departure  "  being  recom- 
mended by  the  brethren  unto  the  grace  of  God,"  or  did 
this  recommendation  happen  only  because  he  was  formally 
leaving  Antioch  for  a  prolonged  period? 

Thus  commenced  the  preacher's  second  missionary  jour- 
ney. 

From  Antioch  "  he  went  through  Syria  and  Cilicia,  con- 
firming the  churches."  In  these  regions  he  had  preached 


TROAS.  141 

already,  when  lie  left  Jerusalem  after  his  first  visit,  as  he 
tells  the  Galatians.  Taking  a  different  direction  from  his 
first  journey,  he  passed  from  Cilicia,  through  the  great  gorge 
or  mountain  pass  called  the  "  Cilician  gates,"  to  Derbe  and 
Lystra,  the  extreme  points  of  the  former  circuit,  and  in  the 
latter  town  he  met  with  Timothy,  his  "own  son  in  the 
faith."  But  the  apostle  had  no  anticipation  at  this  period 
of  entering  Europe,  his  thoughts  were  concentrated  on  Asia 
Minor.  He  accordingly  "  went  throughout  Phrygia  and 
the  region  of  Galatia"  doing  the  Master's  work,  and  forming 
churches  in  towns  like  Pessinus  and  Ancyra.  On  proposing 
an  evangelical  journey,  he  does  not  seem  to  have  mapped 
out  the  minor  details,  but  left  them,  not,  as  the  modern 
phrase  is,  to  the  chapter  of  accidents,  but  to  the  will  of  God, 
and  to  enlightened  deliberation  on  the  spot.  He  was  led 
by  providence,  and  by  the  Divine  Spirit.  On  this  occasion 
God  had  a  special  errand  for  him  in  the  West,  and  therefore 
the  Holy  Ghost  forbade  him  uto  preach  the  word  in  Asia ; " 
the  "  set  time  "  to  visit  Ephesus  had  not  yet  come.  Paul  and 
his  party  arrived  in  Mysia,  but  the  "  Spirit  of  Jesus,"  for  such 
is  the  genuine  reading,  did  not  suffer  them  to  go  north-east 
into  Bithynia.  The  apostle  was  thus  checked  and  checked 
again,  and  brought  through  Mysia  down  to  Troas,  the 
point  of  embarkation.  The  waves  of  the  narrow  ^Egean 
now  lay  between  him  and  Europe,  which  might  be  dimly 
discerned  under  the  setting  sun.  Did  he  wonder  why  he 
had  been  guided  to  this  sea-port,  when  he  would  have 
wandered  far  inland,  or  gone  down  at  length  to  some  more 
distant  maritime  city  ?  Did  he  not  now  perceive  the  reason 
why  on  this  side  and  on  that  side  his  path  had  been 


142  PAUL  AT   PHILIPPI. 

hedged  in,  till  he  was  brought  step  by  step  to  the  harbour 
of  Troas,  the  scene  of  so  many  classical  legends  ? 

If  there  was  any  doubt  upon  his  mind,  a  vision  dispelled 
it.  "A  vision  appeared  to  Paul  in  the  night ;  there  stood  a 
man  of  Macedonia  and  prayed  him,  saying,  Come  over  and 
help  us."  The  apostle  could  not  refuse  such  an  appeal: 
"immediately  we  endeavoured  to  go  into  Macedonia,  assur- 
edly gathering  that  the  Lord  had  called  us  for  to  preach 
the  gospel  unto  them."  That  man  was  the  representative 
of  Europe,  and  of  its  confessed  helplessness.  He  appeared, 
not  clad  in  mail  as  one  of  the  invincible  phalanx,  nor  yet 
draped  in  the  stole  of  the  academy.  He  stood  "  a  man,"  a 
sinner  seeking  help,  and  that  help  which  the  apostle  was 
privileged  to  carry  with  him.  The  valour  of  Macedonia, 
the  wisdom  of  Athens,  and  the  power  of  Home  were  of 
admitted  impotence.  The  weary  heart  sought  repose,  the 
guilty  conscience  longed  for  peace.  Altars  smoked  and 
victims  bled  in  vain.  Temples  were  dedicated,  monuments 
erected,  friezes  carved,  and  statues  sculptured  in  vain. 
Help  was  needed  from  a  foreign  source,  and  this  Asiatic 
wanderer  was  employed  to  bring  it.  He  had  no  external 
pretensions — his  "bodily  presence  was  weak" — and  once 
he  had  been  stoned  to  apparent  death.  He  spoke  not  in 
the  language  or  "  audacious  eloquence  "  of  the  schools,  but 
he  brought  help.  He  had  a  simple  story  to  tell  of  "  one 
Jesus;"  no  ingenious  allegory  or  gorgeous  fiction,  but  a 
plain  narrative  of  one  who  had  lived  in  privation  and  died 
in  ignominy.  Yet  it  was  help ;  the  one  effective  help  which 
neither  philosophy  nor  civilization  could  provide.  The 
apostle  at  once  obeyed  the  vision,  set  sail,  and  reached 


LYDIA.  143 

Samothracia  "  with  a  straight  course."  The  errand  was 
urgent ;  there  was  no  beating  up  against  adverse  winds,  no 
tacking  to  secure  the  breeze,  no  idle  flapping  of  the  sails  in 
a  calm.  The  next  day  the  vessel  dropped  her  anchor  in 
the  harbour  of  Neapolis,  which  stood  in  the  same  relation 
to  Philippi  as  Seleucia  to  Antioch,  Cenchrea  to  Corinth, 
and  Ostia  to  Rome.  The  voyage  was  speedy,  for  the  man 
of  Macedonia  was  very  earnest,  and  God  "  by  His  power 
brought  in  the  south  wind."  The  apostle  then  journeyed 
up  from  the  coast  and  along  the  Egnatian  road  to  Philippi, 
and  there  commenced  his  European  enterprise.  On  the 
Jewish  sabbath  he  went  to  the  oratory  "without  the  gate," 
and  "  spoke  to  the  women  which  resorted  thither,"  either 
proselytesses,  or  Jewesses  whose  husbands  were  perhaps 
heathens,  perhaps  indifferent  to  religious  service.  This 
oratory  or  place  of  worship  was  a  mere  inclosure,  and  was, 
as  was  common,  by  the  side  of  a  stream,  probably  in  this 
case  the  Gangites,  though  rivulets  were  numerous,  and  the 
city  itself  was  anciently  called  the  "  Springs."  The  Jews 
were  so  few  that  they  do  not  seem  to  have  had  a  syna- 
gogue. 

What  the  "things  spoken  of  Paul  were"  may  be  learned 
from  the  result.  It  was  no  fiction  or  romance  which  "  the 
Lord  opened  the  heart  of  Lydia  to  attend  to."  She  was  a 
native  of  Thyatira,  but  was  pursuing  business  in  Philippi 
as  a  seller  of  purple,  Thyatira  being  famed  for  its  dyes, 
and  indeed  inscriptions  have  been  discovered  relating  to 
its  corporation  of  dyers.  She  was  a  proselyte,  and  there- 
fore a  lover  of  truth,  and  that  feeling  which  had  made  her 
an  anxious  inquirer,  and  introduced  her  to  the  synagogue, 


144  PAUL  AT  PHILIPPI. 

prepared  her  to  be  a  Christian,  and  to  pass  over  into  the 
church.     The  divine  blessing  sealed  the  divine  truth. 

The  Lord  opened  Lydia's  heart  while  she  "heard."  And 
where  ?  In  the  scene  of  duty  and  privilege.  Had  she  not 
shut  her  place  of  business,  had  she  expected  some  wealthy 
customer  and  waited  for  him  to  buy  her  vestments,  that 
blessing  would  not  have  been  enjoyed.  But  she  left  the 
city  and  went  to  the  oratory,  where  alone  the  words  of 
truth  were  to  be  heard.  And  she  heard — was  listening 
— did  not  frown  at  the  intrusion  of  a  stranger,  or  deem 
his  address  impertinent  and  incredible.  Neither  did  she 
weary  of  it,  and  wonder  when  he  should  conclude.  His 
oration  arrested  her  attention,  and  she  greedily  drank  it  in. 
As  she  listened,  she  understood,  glimpses  of  the  meaning 
were  caught  by  her,  and  this  partial  perception  of  the  truth 
only  increased  her  eagerness  to  catch  every  syllable,  that 
she  might  lose  no  incident  in  the  narrative  or  step  in 
the  argument.  As  she  understood,  her  heart  was  opened. 
The  novelty  which  Paul  expounded  rose  in  power  above 
that  Judaism  to  which  she  had  conformed.  It  spoke  home 
to  her  conscience,  and  brought  a  message  neither  vailed  in 
the  dimness  of  type,  nor  arrayed  in  the  cumbrous  attire  of 
ceremonial.  In  it  God  had  become  man  to  win  man  to 
himself.  In  it  there  was  an  actual  expiation  for  guilty 
humanity — blood  shed,  mediation  based  upon  it,  and  a 
Spirit  to  apply  it.  Mosaism  was  noted  for  its  anticipations 
— a  religion  of  hope ;  but  Christianity  is  based  on  faith — a 
religion  of  present  and  palpable  blessing.  Lydia  was  con- 
vinced as  she  "  attended."  What  she  heard  was  what  she 
was  feeling  after,  and  to  obtain  which  she  had  renounced 


THE   DIVINE  BLESSING.  145 

paganism.  Judaism  brought  her  nearer  it,  she  saw  it 
pictured,  but  did  not  possess  it ;  now  it  was  presented  in 
reality,  and  she  at  once  embraced  it. 

And  the  heart  needs  still  to  be  opened  by  a  divine  hand. 
The  Spirit  alone  can  so  reveal  a  man  to  himself  that  he 
shrieks  in  alarm,  and  flees  to  the  cross,  and  He  alone  can  so 
present  Jesus,  that  the  heart  bounds  for  joy  at  the  vision, 
and  surrenders  itself  to  His  grace.  The  things  spoken  may 
be  true  and  evangelical,  and  may  be  spoken  with  earnest- 
ness and  power,  yet  the  presence  of  the  Lord  alone  can  impart 
the  blessing.  The  sinful  heart  is  impervious  to  human 
eloquence.  Only  He  who  made  it  and  claims  to  know  it, 
can  unlock  it.  Were  there  with  attendance  earnest  prayer 
for  divine  influence,  attention,  impression,  and  faith  would 
follow  in  order ;  and  if  there  were  better  preparation  for  the 
sanctuary,  there  would  be  more  benefit  from  it.  If  there 
were  previous  and  hearty  invocation  of  the  Spirit,  would 
He  not  rejoice  in  coming  down  ?  Then  would  the  "  things 
spoken"  find  a  ready  entrance,  and  the  opened  heart 
would  receive  the  love  of  the  truth,  grow  "  wise  unto  salva- 
tion," and  be  moulded  into  the  image  of  the  Blessed.  No 
sooner  did  Lydia  possess  faith  than,  professing  it,  she  was 
baptized,  and  then,  as  a  sister,  she  pressed  her  generous 
hospitality  on  the  instruments  of  her  conversion.  Paul 
wrought  with  his  own  hands  in  other  Grecian  towns,  in 
Thessalonica  and  Corinth,  but  the  kindness  of  Lydia  for- 
bade such  a  necessity  in  Philippi. 

May  we  not,  in  fine,  conclude  that  one  needs  not  retire 
from  his  ordinary  secular  occupation  in  order  to  be  called  of 
God  ?  The  divine  vocation  has  often  been  enjoyed  on  the 

K 


146  PAUL  AT   PHILIPPI. 

scene,  or  at  the  post  of  worldly  duty.  Moses  was  feeding 
Jethro's  flock,  when  the  sight  of  the  Burning  Bush,  and  the 
voice  out  of  the  midst  of  it,  arrested  him.  Gideon  was  thresh- 
ing wheat  by  the  wine-press  when  the  Lord  called  him  to  be 
military  dictator.  The  youngest  son  of  Jesse  was  keeping 
the  sheep  when  Samuel  asked  for  him  and  anointed  him. 
Elisha  was  ploughing  when  Elijah  cast  his  mantle  over 
him.  "  The  Lord  took  me,"  says  Amos,  "as  I  followed  the 
flock,  and  the  Lord  said  unto  me,  Go,  prophesy  unto  my 
people  Israel."  Peter  and  Andrew  were  "  casting  a  net ;" 
James  and  John  were  "mending  their  nets ;"  and  Matthew 
was  "sitting  at  the  receipt  of  custom,"  when  they  were 
summoned  by  Jesus  to  the  apostleship.  Nay,  as  Lydia 
found  the  pearl  of  great  price  in  a  distant  country  from  her 
own,  so  many  have  had  similar  experience  in  the  British 
colonies.  The  Negroes,  themselves  or  their  fathers  torn 
from  Africa,  have  been  brought  into  contact  with  the  mis- 
sionaries in  Jamaica— have  heard  and  believed,  have  been 
washed  and  made  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb. 

As  the  conversion  of  Lydia  shows  the  result  of  the 
apostle's  preaching,  that  of  the  jailor  points  out  its  sul 
stance.      A  pythoness,  owned  by  a  wicked  and  greed; 
copartnery,  who  brought  "her  masters  much  gain"  bj 
fortune-telling,  followed  the  apostle  again  and  again  "man] 
days,"  and  was  ever  crying — "  These  men  are  the  servanl 
of  the  Most  High  God,  who  show  unto  us  the  way  of  sal- 
vation."    Either  the  evil  spirit,  like  those  in  the  demoniac 
of  Gadara,  was  so  sensitive,  that  he  felt  the  vicinity  of 
power  higher  than  himself,  and  must  make  a  confession 
or  the  girl  had  heard  some  of  the  apostle's  sermons,  am 


THE   PYTHONESS.  147 

picked  out  the  word  salvation  as  their  most  frequent  and 
distinctive  term.  That  sound  was  so  often  upon  the 
apostle's  lips,  that  she  characterized  his  addresses  by  it. 
Salvation,  and  the  way  of  salvation,  formed  the  refrain  of 
his  oratory.  Yes !  it  was  "  the  way  of  salvation  "  which  the 
apostle  proclaimed — not  the  road  to  wealth,  or  health,  or 
greatness,  but  the  path  to  peace  and  heaven.  Blessed  work 
— to  exhibit  to  a  lost  world,  not  how  God  made  it,  but  how 
He  redeems  it ;  not  how  it  travels  in  its  orbit,  or  how  its 
winds  and  waters  are  governed,  but  how  it  may  be  recov- 
ered from  its  moral  apostacy ;  not  how  its  countries  should 
be  ruled,  their  laws  enacted,  their  battles  fought,  their 
freedom  maintained,  and  their  capabilities  developed,  but 
how  its  population  may  be  brought  out  of  guilt  and  misery, 
fitted  for  serving  God  in  time,  and  enjoying  Him  through 
eternity.  It  was  this  message  that  the  apostle  brought. 
And  he  spoke  it  so  fully  and  so  often,  dwelt  upon  it  with 
such  intense  reiteration,  that  no  one  could  mistake  its 
substance ;  and  he  stood  in  such  a  pure  and  lofty  relation 
to  it,  as  to  appear  in  tone,  gesture,  and  conduct,  a  "  servant 
of  the  Most  High  God."  Such  was  the  impression  made 
on  the  fortune-teller,  with  whose  nervous  and  superhuman 
excitement  and  visions  her  masters  were  working  to  such 
advantage.  Her  clamour  grieved — wearied  the  apostle,  and 
he  disenchanted  her,  commanding  the  spirit  to  be  gone.  Her 
power  of  divination  being  gone,  her  owners  saw  that  their 
hope  of  gain  "was  gone"  too.  The  same  word  is  used  three 
times — in  Paul's  command  to  the  spirit  to  "  come  out,"  in 
recording  the  fact  that  he  "  came  out,"  and  in  describing 
the  result  that  in  his  exit  the  owners'  hope  of  gain  came  out 


148  PAUL  AT  PHILIPPI. 

too.  Her  nervous  susceptibility  had  subsided,  and  all  that 
eagerness  and  frantic  clairvoyance  on  which  they  had  traded 
was  gone.  The  capital  which  they  had  invested  in  her, 
and  which  had  yielded  a  handsome  return,  was  rendered 
suddenly  unproductive.  Their  avaricious  rage  at  once 
vented  itself  on  Paul  and  Silas.  The  sickly  and  possessed 
slave's  restoration  excited  no  sympathy,  they  would  rather 
have  her  again  under  the  mastery  of  the  python  or  serpent 
— the  prince  of  deluders ;  for  her  value  must  have  greatly 
fallen  in  the  market.  They  hurried  Paul  and  Silas  to  the 
forum,  raised  a  tumult  against  them,  first  as  Jews,  and  then 
as  religious  innovators.  Toleration  was  not  known  to  the 
Roman  law,  though  it  was  sometimes  practised.  Thus 
Judaism  was  allowed,  but  proselytism  forbidden.  It  was, 
as  Livy  tells  us,  one  of  the  laws  of  the  Twelve  Tables — the 
great  Roman  Charter — "  Let  none  have  gods  apart,  neither 
let  new  or  strange  gods  be  privately  worshipped  unless 
publicly  received." 

The  "  masters  "  had  become  suddenly  conscientious  ii 
defence  of  the  old  established  faith.  Not  that  they  cared 
in  truth  for  any  altar ;  their  motive  was  pelf  and  nc 
piety ;  and  having  so  strangely  lost  one  source  of  weall 
under  the  plea  of  religion  they  thirsted  for  vengeanc 
The  bench  yielded  to  the  clamour,  and  the  clothes  of  th( 
preachers  being  torn  off  them  by  the  lictors,  they  wei 
scourged,  not  as  under  Jewish  law,  by  which  the  castigatioi 
was  inflicted  by  thongs,  and  limited  to  stripes  "  forty  save 
one,"  but  "many  stripes"  inflicted  by  rods  were  laid  upoi 
them.  With  their  backs  unwashed,  and  their  woum 
bleeding,  were  they  thrust  "into  the  inner  prison ;"  am 


THE   PRISON.  149 

to  augment  the  torture,  the  raw  and  quivering  flesh  was 
further  bruised,  jagged,  and  irritated  by  the  friction  and 
the  unnatural  posture,  for  "  their  feet  were  made  fast  in  the 
stocks."  But  their  courage  did  not  fail  them.  On  losing 
a  battle  in  that  neighbourhood,  Cassius,  "  the  last  of  the 
Romans,7'  hid  himself  in  his  tent,  and  bade  his  freedman 
strike,  while  Brutus,  in  his  sullen  desperation,  fell  upon 
his  sword.  But,  so  far  from  drooping  and  murmuring, 
and  calling  God  to  account,  who  had  beckoned  them  to 
Europe,  and  yet  had  permitted  them  to  be  so  "  shamefully 
entreated;"  so  far  from  resolving  to  desert  a  Master  who 
had  not  protected  them,  or  deeming  the  vision  at  Troas  a 
lure  to  draw  them  on  to  stripes  and  a  dungeon,  "  Paul 
and  Silas"  prayed,  and  not  only  poured  out  their  hearts 
in  supplication,  but  "sang  praises  unto  God,"  and  that 
in  no  whispered  melody,  for  "  the  prisoners  heard  them." 
Peter  slept  soundly  in  prison  "  between  two  soldiers, 
bound  with  two  chains,"  and  that  on  the  eve  of  expected 
martyrdom ;  for  Herod  was  "  intending  after  Easter  to 
bring  him  forth  to  the  people."  There  was  more  peace 
in  Paul's  heart  than  in  that  of  the  damsel's  masters  who 
were  cursing  their  loss ;  more  than  in  the  hearts  of  the 
praetors  who  had  caused  him  to  be  scourged,  for  it  is 
plain  by  their  conduct  on  the  following  day,  that  their 
minds  were  uneasy  as  to  their  rash  and  cruel  procedure. 
A  Hebrew  melody  was  chanted  in  that  inner  prison  at 
the  dead  hour  of  night.  The  sleep  of  the  prisoners  had 
been  often  broken  by  oaths,  groans,  and  terrible  noises; 
but  that  hymn,  falling  and  swelling  with  its  strange 
music  and  foreign  words,  produced  a  profound  sensation. 


150  PAUL  AT   PHILIPPI. 

And  as  the  prisoners  heard — were  listening,  to  the  song  as 
its  dying  cadence  was  echoing  through  the  vaults  and 
corridors,  the  edifice  was  shaken,  the  massive  doors  were 
opened,  and  "  everyone's  bands  were  loosed."  The  con- 
cussion awoke  the  jailor,  who  staring  around  him  in 
consternation,  and  guessing  the  result,  would  have  com- 
mitted suicide — a  miserable  but  common  Roman  refuge. 
Paul  prevented  so  insane  an  act,  and  the  keeper,  with  a 
light  in  his  hand,  "  sprang  in"  to  the  cell  of  the  apostle, 
and,  in  an  agony  of  alarm,  cried — "  What  must  I  do  to  be 
saved?"  Self-murder  was  often  eulogized  by  Eoman 
sages,  and  had  been  practised  by  not  a  few  of  them.  The 
jailor  would  have  reckoned  it  a  less  disgrace  to  die  by  his 
own  hand  than  by  a  military  execution.  But  his  hand 
was  arrested  by  the  apostle's  abrupt  command — "  the  life 
that  now  is  "  was  prolonged,  that  he  might  be  soon  put  in 
possession  of  the  life  "  that  is  to  come." 

"  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?"  was  his  exclamation  ; 
and  it  shows  that  he  was  no  stranger  to  the  general 
lesson  of  the  apostle's  preaching.  Like  the  fortune-telling 
demoniac,  he  had  heard  the  word  "  salvation."  He  knew 
that  Paul  proclaimed  this,  and,  terror-stricken  by  the  phe- 
nomenon which  had  happened — ay,  and  convinced  by  it, 
that  a  supernatural  power  guarded  the  two  prisoners,  he 
eagerly  demanded  how  it  could  be  got  by  him.  It  was 
the  best  thing  for  him  as  he  now  imagined,  but  how  was 
he  to  attain  it  ?  He  might  previously  have  laughed  at  the 
term,  but  he  had  caught  some  idea  of  what  it  meant.  It 
was  a  blessing  which  he  had  not,  and  now  his  soul  was  on 
fire  to  have  it.  Did  he  deem  that  he  was  unworthy  of  it 


ANSWER   TO   THE   JAILOR.  151 

— that  his  conduct  yesterday  to  its  preachers  excluded  him 
from  it  ?  Must  there  be  some  other  path  for  him  than  that 
which  the  Jewish  stranger  ordinarily  pointed  out?  I 
know  what  is  presented  to  others,  but  as  for  me,  so  cruel 
and  guilty — as  for  me,  who  have  acted  savagely  to  the 
strangers — "What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?" 

"What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?"  The  response— the 
immediate  and  unhesitating  response — was — "  Believe  on 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be  saved."  A 
true  reply.  If  a  man  wishes  salvation,  let  him  accept 
the  Saviour.  If  he  will  have  the  gift,  let  him  confide 
in  the  giver.  Can  he  have  redemption,  and  yet  reject 
Him  who  wrought  it  out?  Can  he  be  taken  out  of  the 
pit,  and  yet  spurn  from  him  the  arm  that  alone  can  lift 
him? 

"What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?"  Believe  on  Him 
who  provided  and  who  bestows  this  salvation.  This  is 
the  only  effectual  process.  He  is  able  and  He  is  willing. 
The  lash  on  the  back  of  Paul  and  Silas  may  have  cut  their 
skin  into  ribands,  and  the  jailor  did  not  dress  their  wounds; 
he  put  them  in  the  inner  prison,  and  by  a  refinement  of 
cruelty  locked  them  in  the  stocks ;  his  office  in  a  Koman 
jail  was  one  which  few  could  discharge  without  misgiving, 
for  torture  and  outrage  were  often  resorted  to ;  and  yet 
let  him,  even  him,  but  believe,  and  the  coveted  blessing 
would  without  doubt  be  conferred  upon  him.  Yes,  let 
a  man's  station  be  what  it  may,  his  position  what  it  may, 
his  past  life  what  it  may,  he  is  not  placed  beyond  the 
pale  of  this  salvation.  He  is  welcome,  and  he  is  warranted 
to  believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  not  the  idea 


152  PAUL  AT  PHILIPPI. 

of  belief,  nor  the  desire  of  it,  nor  the  hope  of  it,  but  actual 
belief  itself,  which  secures  salvation.  One  may  not  be 
able  to  analyze  it,  far  less  to  define  it ;  he  may  not  discover 
its  adaptation,  nor  understand  why  it  should  be  selected 
as  the  means  of  safety ;  yet  he  may  possess  it,  and  enjoy 
all  the  fruits  of  the  possession.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is 
so  exhibited  in  power,  truth,  and  love,  that  they  who  see 
Him  may  be  attracted  to  believe  on  Him  ;  the  Lord — 
Governor — on  the  throne,  because  He  died  on  the  cross ; 
Jesus — the  Saviour,  His  name  taken  from  his  work  ;  Christ 
— the  Anointed  One,  commissioned  to  redeem  humanity,  and 
qualified  for  the  great  enterprise  by  the  unction  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  What  can  keep  us  back  from  faith  in  Him  ?  Has 
not  He  the  arm  of  God  and  the  sympathy  of  a  brother  ? 
Has  He  not  given  Himself  to  death,  and  what  higher 
of  attachment  could  He  tender  ?  Is  He  not  anxious  that 
His  salvation  be  dispensed  ?  He  that  provided  it  in  His 
blood,  He  it  is  that  rejoices  to  confer  it.  Are  not  all  those 
invitations  and  promises  sealed  in  His  blood  ?  Are  they 
true,  then,  or  are  they  false?  Yea  or  nay?  Let  there 
be  no  ambiguity — decide.  Is  God  duping  you,  that  you 
refuse  to  trust  him  ?  Did  anyone  ever  find  it  so  ?  Why, 
then,  be  "  slow  of  heart  "  to  believe?  "  Be  not  faithless, 
but  believing;"  yea,  let  the  individual  response  be — "Lord, 
I  believe,  help  thou  mine  unbelief." 

"  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?"  Believe,  and  salvation 
is  obtained  in  its  fulness — not  a  segment  of  it,  as  if  its 
perfect  fruition  depended  on  some  other  grace.  The  state 
of  salvation  is  attached  to  faith  and  every  blessing  con- 
nected with  it.  There  is  pardon — we  are  "justified  by 


FAITH   AND   SALVATION.  153 

faith;"  there  is  acceptance,  for  "faith  is  counted  for 
righteousness;"  and  there  is  also  perseverance,  for  we  are 
"  kept  by  the  power  of  God  through  faith  unto  salvation." 
Belief  gives  sweep  and  power  to  prayer.  "  Whatsoever 
ye  ask,  believing,  ye  shall  receive ;"  and  He  is  "  able  to  do 
exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that  we  ask  or  think." 
The  possessor  of  faith  enters  into  God's  family ;  for  "  as 
many  as  received  Him,  to  them  gave  He  power  to  become 
the  sons  of  God."  He  has  tranquillity  of  soul;  for  "we 
which  believe  do  enter  into  rest ; "  and  he  has  a  growing 
purity  ;  for  he  is  "among  them  which  are  sanctified  by  faith 
that  is  in  Christ."  There  is  guidance,  for  "  we  walk  by 
faith;"  and  life,  too,  "for  the  just  live  by  faith;"  and 
triumph  also,  "  for  this  is  the  victory  that  overcometh  the 
world,  even  our  faith."  There  is,  in  conclusion,  a  char- 
tered fulness  of  gift — "Blessed  is  she  that  believed,  for 
there  shall  be  a  performance  of  those  things  which  were 
told  her  from  the  Lord."  And  thus  it  is  that  "  the  end  of 
your  faith  is  the  salvation  of  your  souls." 

"What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?"  Believe,  and  sal- 
vation is  certain.  It  is  not  believe  and  you  may  be 
saved,  or  there  is  a  chance  or  even  a  probability  of  salva- 
tion. The  result  is  immediate.  Nqt  at  some  distant  day, 
or  when  you  come  to  die ;  but  at  this  moment  faith  pos- 
sessed is  safety  enjoyed.  To  say,  Believe,  and  thou  shalt 
be  saved,  is  equivalent  to  saying,  Take  it  and  you  have  it. 
Guilt  is  cancelled,  and  the  Spirit  descends  into  the  soul. 
"He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  hath  everlasting  life" — 
"  is  passed  from  death  into  life."  Not  only  do  believers 
possess  salvation,  but  they  are  conscious  of  it :  "  being 


154  PAUL  AT  PHILIPPI. 

justified  by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God  " — "  by  faith  ye 
stand."  "  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  of  God  hath  the 
witness  in  himself."  He  is  not  told  about  safety  only, 
but  he  enjoys  it  —  he  has  experience  of  it.  Tell  the 
mother  that  her  strayed  child  is  safe,  and  she  credits  the 
statement ;  but  let  her  clasp  it  to  her  bosom,  and  she  has 
the  witness  in  her  rapture.  Show  a  man  the  electric 
machine  and  describe  its  results  to  him,  he  does  not  deny 
them  so  far  as  he  comprehends  them ;  but  let  him  feel  the 
shock,  and  then  he  has  the  witness  in  every  nerve  as  it 
tingles  and  vibrates.  He  that  feels  what  peace  is,  what 
a  changed  heart  is,  what  the  spirit  of  adoption  in  prayer 
is,  what  advancing  purity  is,  and  what  the  hope  of  glory 
is ;  feels  as  well  as  knows,  rejoices  in  the  record,  but  also 
has  experience  of  its  truth  and  power. 

If  all  depend  on  faith,  it  is  a  truism  to  say  that  the  want 
of  it  must  be  fatal.  Nay,  to  disbelieve  God,  is  to  call  him 
a  liar.  Devils  do  not  commit  so  insulting  and  flagrant  a 
crime.  They  believe,  and  they  tremble  through  their 
belief;  they  cannot  sink  into  unbelief.  But,  alas!  if  a 
man  wants  faith,  he  wants  every  spiritual  blessing ;  for 
God  does  not  thrust  His  salvation  on  an  insulting  heart. 
0,  then,  give  Him  credit  for  what  He  has  done,  and  take 
Him  at  His  word  for  what  He  has  said.  And  your  faith 
rests  on  decisive  evidence.  There  needs  no  great  trial  of 
it;  it  is  not  beset  with  obstacles.  Abel  believed,  and 
acted  out  his  belief,  when  the  testimony  was  scanty  and 
the  ceremonial  not  very  transparent.  Enoch  believed  and 
maintained  his  faith,  when  faith  seems  to  have  fled  the 
earth,  and  all  around  were  "  ungodly  men,"  full  of  "ungodly 


POWER   OF   FAITH.  155 

deeds"  and  "  hard  speeches"  against  God.  Noah  believed, 
and  persisted  in  building  the  huge  fabric  from  keel  to 
deck,  under  a  cloudless  sky,  and  in  a  country  which  gave 
no  token  of  earthquake  and  inundation.  Abraham  became 
an  emigrant  through  faith,  yea,  went  out  under  this  lode- 
star, "not  knowing  whither  he  went."  Moses,  with  the  eye 
of  faith,  saw  "•  the  reproach  of  Christ  to  be  greater  riches 
than  the  treasure  of  Egypt,"  when  the  crown  of  the  country 
might  have  devolved  on  him  as  the  son  of  Pharaoh's 
daughter.  Joseph  believed  that  his  mummy  should  not  lie 
in  Egypt  though  laid  up  there,  and  ll  gave  commandment 
concerning  his  bones,"  at  a  time  when  Pharaoh  was  strong 
and  his  own  people  were  but  a  handful.  Job  was  smitten 
with  terrible  calamities,  but  his  faith  did  not  waver ;  and 
even  when  he  contemplated  the  worst,  he  would  not 
renounce  it — "  Though  He  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  Him." 
In  Christ's  days  there  were  many  external  barriers  to  faith 
in  the  carpenter's  son,  and  yet  many  believed.  The 
woman  of  Samaria  accepted  as  Messiah  the  way-worn  Jew 
who  sat  upon  the  well  and  asked  for  a  draught  of  water. 
And  though  it  was  a  Jew,  one  of  a  despised  and  obnoxious 
race,  one  who  had  been  scourged  and  thrown  into  the 
inner  prison  by  himself;  though  it  was  a  poor,  defenceless 
stranger,  bruised,  bleeding,  pale,  hungry,  and  ragged,  who 
preached  unto  him  Jesus — the  jailor  u  believed,  with  all  his 
house."  And  if  we  have  clearer  evidence — no  ambiguity 
or  mystery ;  not  types,  but  facts ;  not  prophecies,  but 
annals ;  if  we  are  not  summoned  to  do  battle  against 
appearances,  and  soar  on  strong  pinions  above  what  seems 
dark  and  hostile,  as  it  mocks  our  heroism  and  brands  our 


156  PAUL  AT  PHILIPPI. 

confidence  as  a  mere  romance  at  variance  with  all  reality  ; 
if  we  have  the  gospels  and  the  epistles,  the  church  and  the 
Spirit,  all  attesting  our  faith,  the  lives  of  so  many  to  illus- 
trate its  powers,  and  the  deaths  of  so  many  to  show  its 
triumphs — then,  if  we  be  faithless,  we  are  surely  without 
excuse,  and  our  doom  must  be  that  of  those  of  whom  it  is 
written — "  They  could  not  enter  in  because  of  unbelief." 
"  He  that  belie veth  not  is  condemned  already  " — "  shall 
not  see  life,  but  the  wrath  of  God  abideth  on  him." 

Paul's  further  exposition  is  called  speaking  "  the  word  of 
the  Lord  " — delivering  the  message  of  Jesus.  It  was  a 
strange  locality  and  an  unusual  hour ;  but  the  gospel 
triumphed.  The  terror  of  the  night  passed  away,  and 
joy  came  in  the  morning.  The  jailor  was  a  new  man ;  he 
led  the  apostles  to  his  house,  washed  their  stripes  with  all 
tenderness,  was  himself  baptized,  "  set  meat  before  them," 
for  evidently  none  had  been  given  them  previously;  hun- 
ger, fasting,  and  cold  had  embittered  their  imprisonment. 
The  praetors  send  the  Serjeants — lictors — with  an  order  to 
the  jailor  to  dismiss  them — a  curt  and  contemptuous  mes- 
sage— "  let  these  fellows  out."  But  Paul  and  Silas  refused 
to  take  such  a  dismissal.  No  doubt  the  jailor  thought  that 
Paul  would  gladly  listen  to  such  a  message ;  but  the  apostle 
at  once  demurred,  and  avowed  himself  a  Roman  citizen — 
"They  have  beaten  us  openly  uncondemned,  being  Romans, 
and  have  cast  us  into  prison ;  and  now  do  they  thrust  us 
out  privily?  nay  verily;  but  let  them  come  themselves  and 
fetch  us  out."  A  heavy  crime  it  was  to  scourge  a  Roman 
citizen,  and  it  forms  the  point  of  one  of  Cicero's  invectives. 
The  words — "  I  am  a  Roman  citizen,"  had  usually  acted 


RIGHTS  OP  A  ROMAN   CITIZEN.  157 

like  a  charm.  But  the  majesty  of  the  empire  had  been 
violated  in  Paul's  person — he  had  been  beaten  with  the 
lictors'  rods ;  he  had  not  been  convicted  or  even  tried ;  the 
flagellation  had  been  in  public,  which,  according  to  law, 
was  an  aggravation  of  the  offence,  and  besides  he  had  been 
cast  into  prison.  All  this  indignity  had  been  done  in  a 
city  which  was  a  "  Koman  colony ; "  such  a  colony  being  in 
fact  a  reproduction  of  the  mother  city,  Rome — a  military 
settlement  founded  by  Roman  citizens  and  retired  sol- 
diers— and  not  a  place  built  and  governed  by  a  body  of 
emigrants. 

Why  the  apostle  did  not,  as  afterwards,  avail  himself  of 
his  privilege,  we  know  not,  Some  suppose  that  his  words 
were  unheard  amidst  the  clamour;  and  others  that  he 
yielded  to  the  outrage  for  higher  ends — showing  what  he 
could  suffer  for  Christ's  name,  and  guarding  the  infant 
church  from  extinction  through  the  lesson  which  he  taught 
the  magistrates.  Himself  says — "  Thrice  was  I  beaten 
with  rods  " — this  being  one  of  the  occasions ;  nay,  he  was 
"  in  stripes  above  measure;"  for  he  adds — "  Of  the  Jews 
five  times  received  I  forty  stripes  save  one."  He  would 
not  raise  a  civil  action  or  make  an  accusation  to  the  pro- 
consul— though  both  processes  were  legally  open  to  him  ; 
but  he  wished  that  some  reparation  be  made  him — that  the 
magistrates  should  attend  in  person  and  liberate  him  and 
Silas.  These  officials  "  feared,"  were  well  aware  what  a 
penalty  they  had  incurred  ;  for  they  had  violated  the  Por- 
cian  and  the  Valerian  laws.  There  were  instances,  and 
some  of  them  recent,  of  the  swift  and  heavy  vengeance 
which  Rome  took  on  such  as  broke  those  statutes.  She 


158  PAUL  AT   PHILIPPI. 

was  proud  of  her  citizenship,  and  would  not  on  any  pre- 
text tolerate  the  smallest  infraction  of  its  rights.  The 
duumvirs,  therefore,  "  came  and  besought  them,  and 
brought  them  out,  and  desired  them  to  depart  out  of  the 
city."  But  they  would  not  sneak  away  like  culprits, 
afraid  to  be  recognized.  No,  they  rejoiced  "that  they 
were  counted  worthy  to  suffer  shame  for  His  name." 
Boldly  and  in  the  face  of  all  "  they  went  out  of  the  prison, 
and  entered  into  the  house  of  Lydia :  and  when  they  had 
seen  the  brethren,  they  comforted  them,  and  departed." 
Such  were  the  apostle's  experiences  when  he  first  trode 
the  soil  of  Europe;  and  such  the  first  conflict  of  Chris- 
tianity with  Hellenic  heathenism  and  the  savage  caprice 
of  Koman  authority. 


IX.— PAUL  AT  THESSALONICA. 


ACTS  xvii.  1-9.     Isx  &  2:n>  EPISTLES  TO  THE  THESSALONIANS. 


THE  apostle  had  been  beckoned  into  Macedonia  by  a  vision, 
and  that  vision  still  haunted  him.  Every  temple  he 
beheld,  and  every  form  of  idolatry  he  witnessed,  brought 
back  the  picture.  Help  was  needed  everywhere  in  the 
province,  and  he  had  brought  it.  The  cruel  treatment  at 
Philippi  did  not  detain  him  from  the  farther  prosecution  of 
his  labours.  His  spirit  sank  not,  though  he  had  been 
subjected  to  the  scourge.  That  indignity  was  a  severe 
trial  to  him — to  few  more  than  to  him.  The  knout  brings 
no  disgrace  to  a  Kussian  serf,  and  wheals  are  usually  found 
on  the  backs  of  American  slaves.  But  the  lash  must  have 
been  felt  as  an  unspeakable  ignominy  by  one  of  Paul's 
refined  and  elevated  temperament ;  and  he  afterwards  char- 
acterized the  treatment  as  "  shameful."  But  he  bore  it  as 
did  the  Lord  before  him.  He  did  not  sink  into  sullenness, 
and  feel  self-degraded  at  such  outrage  done  to  him  as  a 
man,  and  such  a  violation  of  right  inflicted  on  him  as  a 
Koman  citizen.  It  did  not  stand  out  in  solitary  gloom 
and  bitterness  as — 


"  One  fatal  remembrance,  one  sorrow  that  throws 
Its  bleak  shade  alike  o'er  his  joy  and  his  woes; 
To  which  life  nothing  darker  or  brighter  can  bring, 
For  which  joy  hath  no  balm,  and  affliction  no  sting.' 


160  PAUL  AT  THESSALONICA. 


He  left  Philippi  because  it  afforded  no  prospect  of  imme- 
diate usefulness.  But  he  prosecuted  his  great  work,  and 
travelled  south  and  west  along  the  Egnatian  road  thirty- 
three  miles  to  Amphipolis  on  the  Strymonic  gulf,  but  did 
not  stay  there ;  advanced  thirty  miles  farther  to  Apollonia, 
but  rested  not  there  either ;  journeyed  onwards  other  thirty- 
seven  miles,  and  arrived  at  Thessalonica.  This  city,  at 
the  head  of  the  Thermaic  gulf,  had  then  and  has  still  a 
large  population,  and  the  Jews  in  it  were  so  numerous  as 
to  have  a  synagogue,  which  probably  was  also  a  place  of 
worship  for  the  Jews  of  the  surrounding  district,  for  the 
correct  reading  is — "  Where  was  the  synagogue  of  the  Jews." 
Thessalonica  contained  a  far  greater  population  of  Jews  and 
heathen  than  Philippi — was,  in  fact,  the  capital  city ;  but 
Paul  had  first  visited  Philippi,  which  is  called  "  the  chief 
city  of  that  part  of  Macedonia."  The  epithet  "chief"  or 
first  may  admit  either  of  a  political  or  geographical  meaning 
— either  a  primary  city,  or  the  first  on  his  road.  If  it  was 
the  first  city  of  Macedonia  that  lay  on  his  journey,  then  he 
naturally  commenced  to  give  it  the  help  which  the  man 
of  Macedonia  had  prayed  for ;  if  it  was  a  chief  city  in 
that  part,  there  was  every  inducement  to  fix  upon  it  as  the 
centre  of  farther  operations;  and  if  it  enjoyed  special 
advantages  as  a  city  and  colony,  then,  its  importance  in 
itself,  and  in  relation  to  other  towns  and  districts,  made  it 
a  fitting  place  both  for  present  work  and  subsequent  enter- 
prise. You  may  either  say  Paul  went  to  Philippi  as  the 
first  city  on  his  path,  for  he  had  been  summoned  into 
Macedonia,  and  he  could  never  think  of  passing  the  first 
city  which  he  came  to ;  or  he  formally  selected  Philippi 


THE  SYNAGOGUE.  161 

"because  of  its  rank,  and  because  of  its  privileges  as  a 
Roman  colony.  If  the  apostle  had  taken  this  tour  of  his 
own  accord,  or  as  the  result  of  plans  previously  matured ; 
if  he  had  traced  out  the  itinerary  of  an  evangelistic  cam- 
paign before  he  set  out,  then  the  latter  hypothesis  would 
appear  the  more  plausible:  but  if,  as  was  the  case,  his 
purpose  was  hastily  formed,  and  the  general  idea  of  travers- 
ing the  province,  without  any  distinct  regard  to  the  order 
or  arrangements  of  the  visits,  was  suggested  by  the  prayer 
of  the  representative  man,  then  the  first  would  appear  to 
be  the  more  natural  and  simple  hypothesis. 

Though  the  apostle  was  invited  into  Europe  by  a  man 
of  Macedonia  personating  its  heathen  tribes,  yet  he  never 
forgot  his  own  nation,  but  entered  at  once  into  the  Thessa- 
lonian  synagogue.  Though  labouring  under  a  special 
commission  for  the  (Jentiles,  he  did  not  deviate  from  his 
usual  practice,  but  spoke  on  three  consecutive  sabbaths  to 
his  countrymen.  He  and  they  had  common  ground — the 
scriptures.  Both  acknowledged  the  divine  authority  of  the 
Old  Testament,  and  all  who  read  it  cherished  anticipa- 
tions of  a  Messiah.  And  this  was  the  one  point  which 
the  apostle  discussed.  His  study  was  to  show  how  Mes- 
siah had  been  portrayed,  and  how  the  portraiture  was, 
feature  for  feature,  the  likeness  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  It 
is  plain  that  an  erroneous  or  one-sided  interpretation  of 
these  old  oracles  would  either  becloud  or  warp  the  mind, 
so  that  it  could  not  recognize  their  fulfilment.  The  Mes- 
sianic oracles  must  be  understood  clearly,  fully,  and  in 
harmony.  No  error  is  safe,  and  error  on  certain  points  is 
fraught  with  imminent  danger.  If  a  man  misunderstand 

L 


162  PAUL  AT  THESSALONICA. 

a  prophecy,  he  of  necessity  misapplies  it.  The  question, 
whom  does  it  lit — depends  on  the  solution  of  a  previous 
query,  what  does  it  teach  ?  If  I  take  up  the  notion  that 
teaching  was  the  special  and  only  function  of  the  Mes- 
siah— the  prophet  like  unto  Moses — that  His  great  work 
was  to  enlighten  the  world  by  bringing  unknown  truths 
into  it,  and  casting  a  new  radiance  on  principles  already 
established,  then  the  cross  and  its  agony  only  perplex  me, 
and  I  am  self-bribed  to  take  them  simply  as  seals  and 
attestations  of  integrity  and  courage.  Or,  if  a  Jew  perceived 
in  Him  only  a  promised  conqueror  and  king,  with  David's 
sword  on  His  thigh,  and  David's  throne  as  His  seat  of 
exaltation,  then  the  life  of  the  peaceful  Jesus  would,  in  his 
opinion,  so  far  from  presenting  a  fulfilment  of  prophecy, 
exhibit  such  a  striking  contrast  to  it  that  His  claims  would 
be  at  once  ignored,  and  Himself  stigmatized  as  a  pretender. 
It  was  of  high  utility,  therefore,  that  the  apostle  should 
expound  the  scriptures,  and  show  what  kind  of  Messiah 
had  been  predicted.  A  sketch  from  fancy  would  not 
suffice.  The  point  at  issue  was,  what  is  the  idea  of  the 
Messiah  as  developed  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  has  it 
been  realized.  The  Jewish  mind  needed  this.  Show  from 
the  law  and  the  prophets  what  He  was  to  be,  and  then  tell 
what  Jesus  was ;  depict  what  He  was  to  do,  and  then  detail 
the  life  of  this  Son  of  David ;  and  thus  it  will  be  seen  how 
the  one  fitted  into  the  other,  how  the  living  person  corre- 
sponded to  the  ideal  delineation. 

Now,  there  was  one  point  evidently  misconceived  by 
the  Jewish  people,  and  that  one  of  transcendent  moment. 
The  suffering  and  death  of  Jesus  forfeited,  as  they  thought, 


EXPOSITION   OF   THE   OLD   TESTAMENT.  163 

all  claim  on  His  part  to  be  the  Messiah.  The  cross  was 
a  "  stumbling-block "  to  them.  They  could  not  imagine 
the  possibility  of  that  man  being  the  Messiah,  who  had 
been  publicly  executed.  So  foreign  was  such  a  thing  to 
all  their  fancies  and  hopes,  that  they  could  not  entertain 
it,  and  so  sure  were  they  of  being  right,  that  they  would 
not  examine  it.  The  bare  statement  was  to  them  its  own 
refutation.  The  inspired  preacher  at  Thessalonica,  know- 
ing what  he  had  to  encounter,  took  the  proper  course,  and 
showed  that  the  promised  Messiah  was  depicted  as  a  suffer- 
ing Messiah,  that  the  prophets  had  distinctly  foretold 
his  mortal  agony,  and  that,  if  their  pre-intimations  are  to 
be  regarded,  only  He  who  has  died  and  risen  again  has  any 
right  to  be  regarded  as  Israel's  hope  and  God's  anointed 
one. 

The  apostle,  therefore,  reasoned  out  of  the  scriptures — 
discoursed  out  of  them  as  his  theme ;  opening — explaining 
or  making  clear ;  and  alleging — advancing  and  propound- 
ing the  truth  which  the  preceding  or  accompanying  expo- 
sition revealed — "  that  it  behoved  the  Messiah  to  suffer 
and  rise  from  the  dead."  On  the  ground  of  the  Old 
Testament,  the  apostle  showed  and  proved  his  position. 
He  took  the  prophecies  and  analysed  them,  and  in  com- 
menting on  them  gained  his  purpose.  His  argument  lay 
in  his  exposition.  It  was  no  abstract  proposition  which  he 
discussed,  either  as  to  the  legal  necessity  or  the  atoning 
value  of  Christ's  sufferings.  It  was  a  proof  from  scripture 
that  He  whom  Jehovah  promised,  and  the  nation  had  so 
long  and  so  eagerly  expected,  was  to  be  one  distinguished 
for  his  sufferings — sufferings  ending  in  death,  and  that, 


164  PAUL  AT  THESSALONICA. 

therefore,  no  one  could  claim  to  be  Messiah  who  was  not 
notorious  for  the  persecutions  and  agonies  through  which 
he  had  passed.  The  apostle  entered  into  no  philosophical 
argument  as  to  the  necessity  of  an  expiation,  and  into  no 
historical  proof  that  Jesus  had  really  died  on  Calvary  •  but 
his  object  was  to  prove  that  Moses  and  the  prophets,  in 
portraying  a  Messiah,  dwelt  largely  on  his  sufferings, 
while  they  forgot  not  his  kingdom.  One  that  had  not 
suffered,  who  had  met  with  no  hostility,  whom  the  nations 
had  caressed  as  in  his  triumphant  car  he  rode  from  victory 
to  victory,  could  not  be  the  Messiah,  for  he  did  not  embody 
in  himself  these  old  inspired  predictions.  The  Christ  pro- 
mised was  not  only  to  teach  many  things,  but  specially  to 
endure  many  things ;  was  to  die  while  He  conquered.  A 
grave  lay  between  Him  and  His  throne,  and  His  kingdom 
was  to  be  won  by  His  blood.  The  work  of  expiation  which 
was  committed  to  Him  involved  indescribable  agony.  The 
Hebrew  mind  was  filled  with  giddy  imaginations  of  civil 
glory  and  a  visible  monarchy,  and  the  apostle,  therefore, 
taught  that  these  had  no  foundation  in  the  Hebrew  scrip- 
tures, but  that  the  leading  characteristic  of  the  Messiah 
was  to  be  suffering — death. 

And  he  could  point  to  many  oracles  in  support  of  his 
opinion  as  to  the  necessity  and  character  of  Messiah's  suf- 
ferings. The  first  gospel  in  Eden  had  dimly  alluded  to  it. 
The  typical  dispensation  had  foreshadowed  it  in  the  blood 
of  its  victims.  The  paschal  lamb  typified  the  Lamb  "  which 
taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world,"  even  "  Christ  our  pass- 
over,  sacrificed  for  us."  Isaiah  had  described  it  with 
graphic  minuteness.  "  He  was  wounded  for  our  transgres- 


MESSIAH   CHARACTERIZED   BY   SUFFERING.          165 

sions,  and  bruised  for  our  iniquities ;  the  chastisement  of 
our  peace  was  upon  him,  and  with  His  stripes  we  are 
healed."  "The  Lord  laid  on  Him  the  iniquity  of  us  all." 
"  He  is  brought  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter,"  "  cut  off 
out  of  the  land  of  the  living."  "It  pleased  the  Lord 
to  bruise'  Him;"  His  soul  made  "an  offering  for  sin." 
"  He  shall  bear  their  iniquities."  "  He  hath  poured  out 
His  soul  unto  death."  "  He  bare  the  sin  of  many." 
The  psalmist  had  pictured  Him  as  the  great  oblation  in 
man's  nature — "  A  body  hast  thou  prepared  me."  Daniel 
had  spoken  of  Messiah  the  Prince,  not  as  clothed  in  royal 
robes,  or  wielding  a  sceptre,  but  as  one  who  "  shall  be  cut 
off."  And  the  delineations  of  His  conquest  and  kingdom 
presuppose  his  resurrection — He  "rose  again  the  third  day, 
according  to  the  scriptures."  In  dying  He  conquered,  and 
then  had  given  Him  " a  portion  with  the  great;"  dividing 
"  the  spoil  with  the  strong."  After  the  conspiracy  against 
Him  which  the  psalmist  depicts  in  the  second  psalm,  and 
which  ended  in  His  death,  He  is  installed  as  "  king  over 
G-od's  holy  hill  of  Zion."  His  enemies  put  Him  to  death, 
but  He  rose  and  ascended,  and,  concerning  those  enemies, 
"  the  Lord  said  unto  my  Lord,  Sit  thou  at  my  right  hand, 
until  I  make  thine  enemies  thy  footstool." 

Having  shown  that  the  Old  Testament  delineated  not 
simply  a  suffering  Messiah,  but  one  to  be  noted  and  known 
for  His  suffering  —  one  that  as  Messiah,  or  as  anointed 
Redeemer,  should  agonize  and  die ;  the  apostle  then 
showed  "that  this  Jesus  whom  I  preach  unto  you  is 
Christ;"  or  rather,  according  to  the  position  of  the  words, 
"this  Jesus  whom  I  preach  to  you  is  that  very  Christ" 


166  PAUL  AT  THESSALONICA. 


who  must  suffer  and  rise  again.  The  life  and  career  of 
Jesus  corresponded  closely  with  these  predictions — not 
simply  of  His  birth,  but  also  of  His  death.  The  circum- 
stances of  that  death  had  been  foretold.  It  was  not  to  be 
the  national  mode  of  execution — not  lapidation,  but  sus- 
pension on  a  tree,  to  which  He  was  nailed  when  they 
"  pierced  His  hands  and  feet."  It  was  to  be  preceded 
by  treachery,  and  an  illegal  seizure  and  condemnation. 
It  was  a  scene  in  which  the  heathen  were  to  "  rage," 
implying  that  Judea  should  be  a  conquered  country,  and 
under  foreign  rule.  Preparatory  to  His  death  He  was 
to  be  stript  of  His  clothes — "  they  part  my  garments 
among  them,  and  cast  lots  upon  my  vesture;"  and  so  it 
was,  as  the  evangelist  tells  us.  He  was  to  die,  and  yet 
"  not  a  bone  of  Him  shall  be  broken ;"  to  be  "  numbered 
with  transgressors,"  and  yet  to  lie  in  a  rich  man's  tomb. 
Nay,  not  only  should  He  suffer  at  the  hands  of  men,  but 
God  should  "put  him  to  grief;"  and  so  His  bitter  wail 
on  the  cross  was — "  My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou 
forsaken  me?"  It  was  to  be  a  crucifixion  —  a  violent, 
voluntary,  vicarious  death ;  and  it  was  so.  Every  feature 
of  prediction  was  fulfilled.  If,  then,  the  sufferings  of  Jesus, 
in  their  source  and  amount,  in  their  nature  and  design, 
in  themselves  and  in  their  adjuncts,  are  so  closely  and 
universally  in  harmony  with  old  prediction ;  if  you  can 
find  the  law  and  the  prophets  realized  in  the  agonies  of 
His  cross,  and  the  humiliation  of  His  sepulchre ;  if  you 
perceive  that  the  record  of  His  last  days  is  merely  pro- 
phecy read  as  history — that  Matthew  but  relates  as  past 
what  David  had  sung  of  as  to  come ;  and  that  the  only 


RAGE  OF  THE  JEWS.  167 

difference  between  Luke  and  Isaiah  is  simply  that  between 
prose  and  poetry — between  the  original  and  the  portrait ; 
surely  you  will  come  to  Paul's  conclusion,  that  "this 
Jesus  whom  I  preach  unto  you  is  the  Christ." 

The  narrative  brings  out  another  feature  of  the  apostle's 
preaching.  The  result  at  Thessalonica  was  as  in  other 
places.  The  gospel  was  received  by  many — a  great  mul- 
titude— and  not  a  few  of  them  proselytesses  of  high  social 
rank  —  persons  who,  from  their  position,  were  neither 
fettered  by  Jewish  prejudices,  nor  clouded  with  heathen 
darkness.  And  not  only  so,  but  many  heathens  were  won 
over  — "  turned,"  as  the  apostle  afterwards  told  them, 
"  to  God  from  idols,  to  serve  the  living  and  true  God." 
The  majority  of  the  church  seems  in  fact  to  have  been 
composed  of  Gentiles.  The  Jews,  on  the  other  hand, 
could  not  conceal  their  chagrin;  and  the  apostle  charac- 
terizes them  in  Thessalonica  thus — "  Who  both  killed  the 
Lord  Jesus  and  their  own  prophets,  and  have  persecuted 
us  j  and  they  please  not  God,  and  are  contrary  to  all  men  ; 
forbidding  us  to  speak  to  the  Gentiles,  that  they  might  be 
saved,  to  fill  up  their  sins  alway :  for  the  wrath  is  come 
upon  them  to  the  uttermost."  They  resorted  to  a  very 
mean  expedient;  for  they  took  unto  them  that  excitable 
and  profligate  rabble  that  in  such  towns  lounge  about  the 
market-place — a  class  of  houseless  persons  having  a  defined 
and  well-known  character  in  these  days,  ready  for  any 
mischief,  called  "  dregs  and  mire"  by  one  ancient  author, 
and  "  lying  and  perjured  "  by  another — the  canaille,  in 
short,  like  the  lazzaroni  of  Naples,  to  which  they  have 
been  compared.  With  these  allies  they  easily  created 


168  PAUL  AT  THESSALONICA. 

a  tumult;  "assaulted  the  house  of  Jason/'  with  whom 
the  apostle  lived,  and  who  perhaps  was  a  kinsman  (Eom. 
xvi.  21);  but  did  not  find  Paul  and  Silas,  whom  they 
wished  to  bring  out  to  the  people  —  the  assembly — the 
word  employed  meaning  the  people  in  a  corporate  sense. 
However,  they  dragged  .Jason  and  some  other  believers 
before  the  magistrates,  and  declared  them  to  be  traitors 
and  revolutionists.  The  "  rulers  of  the  city  "  have  here 
the  appellation  of  politarchs — the  term  being  different 
from  that  employed  to  name  similar  officials  in  Philippi  ; 
Thessalonica  being  a  free  city,  and  not  a  Koman  colony. 
The  accusers  describe  the  Christians  as  effecting  changes 
in  other  places,  and  as  being  now  in  the  city  prosecuting 
the  same  work.  The  charge  is  strongly  rendered  in  our 
version — "  turned  the  world  upside  down."  And,  indeed, 
what  better  thing  could  have  happened  the  world  than 
to  be  so  thoroughly  upturned?  But  the  point  of  the 
charge  is  that  the  new  sect  were  rebels,  opposing  Caesar's 
decrees,  guilty  of  treason,  "  saying  that  there  is  another 
king,  one  Jesus;"  that  is,  they  broke  the  Julian  laws, 
disowning  the  authority  of  the  Roman  emperor,  and  pro- 
claiming a  rival  sovereign. 

It  is  plain  that  Paul  had  preached  Jesus  as  king,  and 
that  the  doctrine  was  either  misunderstood,  or  that  the 
Jews,  knowing  what  their  own  hopes  were  of  a  conqueror 
and  Lord,  gave  out  in  their  malice  that  the  Christian 
creed  embracing  this  tenet  taught  sedition.  The  mob 
cared  nothing  about  a  religious  question — cared  as  little 
for  the  Jews  or  their  national  faith,  and  would  never  have 
been  bribed  to  raise  any  disturbance  about  any  Jewish 


169 

dogma.  They,  therefore,  gave  their  charge  a  political 
aspect  and  edge,  which  the  "  lewd  fellows  of  the  baser 
sort,"  and  the  people,  with  the  proconsul  and  his  assessors, 
could  at  once  apprehend.  Jesus  was  prosecuted  Himself 
tinder  the  same  charge  as  king  of  the  Jews,  and  the  tablet 
on  the  cross  bore  the  accusation — "  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  king 
of  the  Jews."  The  apostle's  doctrine  was  misconstrued. 
He  taught  that  Jesus  who  suffered  was  king,  but  upon  no 
throne  of  earth  *  that  His  kingdom  has  infinitude  for  its 
extent,  and  eternity  for  its  duration ;  that  the  elements  of 
nature  do  His  bidding,  as  do  the  loftiest  intelligences  that 
bow  their  heads  before  Him ;  that  He  controls  and  governs 
all,  and  that  those  who  are  ransomed  by  His  blood  are 
bound  to  yield  Him  the  homage  of  their  hearts  and  the 
service  of  their  lives.  Christ's  royal  honour  has  promi- 
nence in  the  apostle's  letters  to  this  people,  and  must  have 
had  it  also  in  his  discourses.  To  Him  all  power  is  given  in 
heaven  and  in  earth.  To  Him  every  knee  shall  bow,  and 
every  tongue  confess.  On  His  head  are  "  many  crowns." 
He  is  "  Lord  of  all,"  "  crowned  with  glory  and  honour  ;" 
nay,  in  the  apocalyptic  vision,  while  on  His  white  horse 
He  pursues  His  flying  foes,  and  the  breeze  tosses  back 
His  warlike  mantle,  the  name,  written  "on  His  vesture  and 
on  His  thigh,"  is  seen  to  be  "  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of 
lords."  The  gifts  of  His  salvation  are  royal  benefactions, 
and  His  sceptre  protects  and  extends  His  church.  That 
church,  on  earth  and  in  heaven,  is  His  kingdom;  His 
people  suffering  for  it  are  "counted  worthy  of"  it,  for 
they  are  "  called  to  His  kingdom  and  glory." 

As  we  learn  from  the  first  epistle  of  Peter,  the  same 


170  PAUL  AT  THESSALONICA. 

charge  of  disloyalty  was  brought  against  Christians  in 
other  places.  Their  enemies,  in  the  "  ignorance  of  foolish 
men,"  did  not  understand  the  genius  of  that  kingdom  which 
"  is  not  of  this  world,"  nor  believe  that  spiritual  homage  is 
quite  compatible  with  civil  obedience.  Thus  did  Tertul- 
lian  speak  in  his  day,  when  the  reproach  of  being  enemies 
of  the  state  and  the  emperor  was  cast  on  him  and  the 
church — "  We  pray  for  the  emperor's  welfare  to  the 
eternal,  true,  and  living  God,  whom  even  the  emperors 
themselves  would  rather  have  propitious  to  them  than  all 
the  rest.  They  know  who  has  given  them  dominion ;  they 
know,  as  men,  who  has  given  them  life.  They  feel  that 
He  is  God  alone,  in  whose  power  alone  they  stand,  to  whom 
they  are  second,  after  whom  they  are  first,  before  all  gods. 
And  why  not,  since  they  are  above  all  men  ?  They  reflect 
how  far  the  powers  of  their  empire  extend,  and  thus  they 
understand  God ;  they  acknowledge  that  they  prevail 
through  Him,  against  whom  they  cannot  prevail.  To  Him 
we  Christians  look  up  with  outspread,  because  innocent, 
hands ;  with  bare  heads,  because  we  are  not  ashamed ; 
finally,  without  a  prompter,  because  we  pray  from  the 
heart.  We  pray  always  for  all  emperors  that  they  may 
have  a  long  life,  a  secure  government,  a  safe  home,  valiant 
armies,  a  faithful  senate,  a  righteous  people,  a  world  at 
peace,  and  all  that  man  or  emperor  can  wish  for.  These 
things  I  cannot  ask  of  any  other  being  than  of  Him  from 
whom  I  know  I  shall  obtain  them,  since  it  is  He  who  alone 
supplies  them,  and  it  is  I  to  whom  the  obtaining  of  them  is 
due — I,  His  servant,  who  reverence  Him  alone,  who  sur- 
render my  life  for  His  law,  who  offer  Him  a  rich  and 


CHRIST  8   COMING.  171 

larger  victim  which  He  himself  has  commanded,  the  prayer 
proceeding  from  a  chaste  tody,  an  innocent  soul,  from  the 
Holy  Spirit.  I  will  call  the  emperor  lord,  but  only  when 
I  am  not  compelled  to  call  him  lord  instead  of  God. 
Otherwise  I  am  free  before  him ;  for  I  have  only  one  Lord, 
the  almighty  and  eternal  God — the  same  who  is  his  Lord 
also." 

From  the  tenor  of  the  epistles  to  the  church  in  Thes- 
salonica,  it  is  evident  that  there  was  also  another  doctrine 
which  Paul  preached,  and  that  was  the  return  of  Christ  in 
glory  to  judge  the  world — "  Remember  ye  not  that  when  I 
was  yet  with  you  I  told  you  these  things."  On  their 
conversion  they  were  taught  "  to  wait  for  His  Son  from 
heaven,  whom  He  raised  from  the  dead,  even  Jesus,  which 
delivereth  us  from  the  wrath  to  come."  On  delivering  to 
them  a  weighty  message,  he  adjures  them  "  by  the  coming 
of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  The  second  advent  was  the 
period  of  hope  to  which  the  preacher  ever  pointed,  and 
which  he  described  as  ever  near — the  period  when  the 
dead  shall  be  raised,  the  living  changed,  and  the  hap- 
piness of  believers  perfected  —  for  they  shall  become 
"  unblameable  in  holiness  before  God,  even  our  Father,  at 
the  coming  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  with  all  His  saints." 
He  came,  and  He  comes  again  in  majesty,  to  conclude  the 
history  of  a  world,  to  obtain  His  final  triumph  over  death, 
to  raise  His  people  from  the  tomb  in  immortal  youth  and 
beauty,  and  carry  them  in  their  entire  humanity  to  His 
own  prepared  kingdom — to  cloudless  and  endless  felicity 
"  for  ever  with  the  Lord." 

These  doctrines  preached  by  Paul  at  Thessalonica  were 


172  PAUL  AT  THESSALONICA. 


all  closely  connected.  The  Messiah  predicted  is  to  be  a 
suffering  Messiah,  and  such  He  was.  But  His  suffering 
terminated  in  His  decease,  for  He  arose  again  and  He 
ascended  to  the  throne,  because  He  "  became  obedient  unto 
death."  He  reigns  because  He  died.  And  from  His 
throne  He  comes  to  gather  unto  Himself  His  numerous 
subjects,  whose  bodies  are  sleeping  in  earth  or  under 
ocean,  and  introduce  them  into  complete  and  final  blessed- 
ness. So  that  they  who  enjoy  the  gift  and  come  into  His 
kingdom,  trace  their  honours  to  His  cross,  and  sing  before 
His  throne — "  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  was  slain." 

It  may  be  remarked,  too,  that  the  apostle,  in  these  letters 
written  a  few  months  afterwards  from  Corinth,  refers  to 
the  style  in  which  he  preached  at  Thessalonica — "  Our 
exhortation  was  not  of  deceit,  nor  of  uncleanness,  nor  in 
guile :  but  as  we  were  allowed  of  God  to  be  put  in  trust 
with  the  gospel,  even  so  we  speak  ;  not  as  pleasing  men, 
but  God,  which  trieth  our  hearts.  For  neither  at  any  time 
used  we  flattering  words,  as  ye  know,  nor  a  cloak  of 
covetousness ;  God  is  witness :  nor  of  men  sought  we 
glory,  neither  of  you,  nor  yet  of  others,  when  we  might 
have  been  burdensome,  as  the  apostles  of  Christ.  But  we 
were  gentle  among  you,  even  as  a  nurse  cherisheth  her 
children :  so,  being  affectionately  desirous  of  you,  we  were 
willing  to  have  imparted  unto  you,  not  the  gospel  of  God 
only,  but  also  our  own  souls,  because  ye  were  dear  unto  us. 
....  As  ye  know  how  we  exhorted  and  comforted,  and 
charged  every  one  of  you  (as  a  father  doth  his  children), 
that  ye  would  walk  worthy  of  God,  who  hath  called  you 
unto  His  kingdom  and  glory."  The  purity,  simplicity, 


PEEMANENT   FRUITS. 


173 


fidelity  and  power,  and  the  earnest,  loving,  unselfish  nature 
of  his  preaching,  are  declared  by  him  as  being  visible  to  all 
around  him.  Nay,  he  wrought  with  his  own  hands — 
"labouring  night  and  day,  because  we  would  not  be 
chargeable  unto  any  of  you."  He  did  the  same  at  Corinth, 
and  we  shall  again  refer  to  it  under  that  head.  According 
to  the  chronology  held  by  some,  a  grievous  famine  at  this 
period  oppressed  that  portion  of  the  world,  and  it  must 
have  taken  extraordinary  exertion  for  the  inspired  tent- 
maker  to  earn  a  livelihood.  But  during  his  brief  stay  at 
Thessalonica,  his  friends  at  Philippi  had  not  forgotten  him, 
for  he  thanks  them  and  says — "  Ye  sent  once  and  again 
unto  my  necessities."  When  we  read  so  many  warnings 
against  idleness,  and  so  many  incitements  to  industry  in  both 
the  epistles  to  this  church,  we  see  another  reason  why  the 
apostle  preferred  to  win  his  own  bread  by  manual  toil. 
Again  and  again  does  he  appeal  to  their  knowledge  of  his 
character  as — "ye  know  what  manner  of  men  we  were" — 
"ye  remember,  brethren,  our  labour  and  travail" — "ye 
are  our  witnesses,  and  God  also,  how  holily,  and  justly, 
and  unblameably  we  behaved  ourselves  among  you  that 
believe  " — "as  ye  know  how  we  exhorted  and  comforted 
and  charged  every  one  of  you" — "  ye  know  what  command- 
ment we  gave  you  by  the  Lord  Jesus  " — "  we  behaved  not 
disorderly  among  you." 

It  is  pleasing,  in  fine,  to  know  that  the  apostle's  lessons 

were  productive  of  permanent   fruits.      The   magistrates 

rere  alarmed  at  what  they  heard,  were  afraid  lest  the 

character  of  their  city  should  be  compromised;  but  they 

admitted  Jason  to  bail,  took  from  him  some  security  to 


174  PAUL  AT  THESSALONICA. 

keep  the  peace,  or  perhaps  not  to  accommodate  the  apostle 
any  longer.  A  large  fine  may  have  been  exacted  after- 
wards of  him  and  others,  amounting  to  the  spoiling  of 
their  goods;  for  they  had  suffered  like  the  churches  in 
Judaea,  and  this  was  one  of  the  wrongs  inflicted  on 
them.  In  the  meantime,  lest  danger  should  be  incurred, 
and  scenes  worse  than  those  at  Philippi  be  re-enacted, 
"  the  brethren  immediately  sent  away  Paul  and  Silas  by 
night  unto  Berea."  But  he  longed  to  see  them  again, 
for  they  were  an  exemplary  people — "  ensamples  to  all 
that  believe  in  Macedonia  and  Achaia"  —  a  loving  and 
generous  society  "  toward  all  the  brethren  which  are  in  all 
Macedonia" — resigned  and  happy  in  the  midst  of  suffering: 
"  So  that  we  ourselves  glory  in  you  in  the  churches  of 
God,  for  your  patience  and  faith  in  all  your  persecutions 
and  tribulations  that  ye  endure."  Need  we  wonder  that 
the  heart  of  the  preacher  warmed  toward  them,  that  he 
Bent  Timothy  from  Athens  to  comfort  them,  and  that  he 
writes  them  in  this  jubilant  strain — "  For  what  is  our  hope, 
or  joy,  or  crown  of  rejoicing?  Are  not  even  ye  in  the 
presence  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  at  His  coming  ?  For  ye 
are  our  glory  and  joy."  "For  our  entrance  in  unto  you  was 
not  in  vain" — "The  gospel  came  not  unto  you  in  word 
only,  but  also  in  power  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  in 
much  assurance."  Nay,  they  were  a  centre  of  powerful 
and  extensive  missionary  influence — "From  you  sounded 
out  the  word  of  the  Lord,  not  only  in  Macedonia  and 
Achaia,  but  also  in  every  place  your  faith  to  Godward  is 
spread  abroad."  Thessalonica  was,  from  its  situation  as  a 
seaport,  a  city  of  great  commerce,  and  was  brought  into 


LESSONS  TO   OURSELVES.  175 

connection  with  all  parts  of  the  province  and  other  eastern 
countries.  This  intercourse  for  the  affairs  of  this  life  was 
sanctified  as  an  evangelical  channel ;  in  many  cases  "  her 
merchandise  and  her  hire  were  holiness  to  the  Lord;" 
and  she  must  have  found  as  the  wise  man  describes  it, 
that  "  the  merchandise  of  it  is  better  than  the  merchan- 
dise of  silver,  and  the  gain,  therefore,  than  pure  gold." 
May  not  we  profit  by  such  an  example?  Has  Britain 
attained  her  position,  merely  for  the  purposes  of  colonial 
superiority  and  maritime  enterprise.  "  Many  isles  are  the 
merchandise  of  her  hands,"  and  shall  she  not  delight  to 
send  them  something  better  than  hardwares  and  calicoes? 
"All  the  ships  of  the  sea,  with  their  mariners,  are  in  her  to 
occupy  her  merchandise;"  and  shall  they  not,  whether 
Lascars  or  Kroomen,  Coolies  or  Chinamen,  when  they 
come  into  British  harbours,  meet  with  evangelical  kindness 
and  truth?  "0  thou  that  art  situate  at  the  entry  of 
the  sea,  which  art  a  merchant  of  the  people  for  many 
isles,"  when  shalt  thou  appreciate  thy  solemn  responsi- 
bilities, and  rejoice  to  hallow  thy  ships  by  bringing  His 
sons  from  far,  exporting  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  the 
treasure  which  faileth  not,  and  conveying  thither  the  men, 
the  weapons  of  whose  warfare  are  not  carnal,  but  mighty 
through  God? 

Such  toil  and  suffering  with  such  a  spiritual  harvest,  such 
faith  and  heroism  on  the  part  alike  of  preacher  and  people, 
are  surely  an  inspiring  lesson.  Xerxes,  on  his  invasion  of 
Greece,  had  halted  at  Thessalonica,  but  left  behind  him  no 
memento  save  that  of  rapine  and  wrong.  It  was  the 
place  of  Cicero's  banishment,  but  the  illustrious  exile  could 


176 


PAUL  AT  THESSALONICA. 


only  sob  and  wail  and  curse — a  pitiable  poltroon.  Paul, 
after  being  scourged  at  Philippi,  comes  to  the  same  spot, 
neither  abject  nor  vindictive,  but  earnest  and  forgiving; 
and  he  does  a  divine  work,  the  memorials  of  which  have 
lasted  many  ages,  and  shall  never  pass  away.  What  the 
poet  says  of  bards  may  be  applied  to  preachers  like  Paul — 

"  But  the  glories  so  transcendent 

That  around  their  memories  cluster, 
And,  on  all  their  steps  attendant, 
Make  their  darkened  lives  resplendent 

With  such  gleams  of  inward  lustre ! 

"  All  the  melodies  mysterious, 

Through  the  dreary  darkness  chaunted ; 

Thoughts  in  attitudes  imperious, 

Voices  soft,  and  deep,  and  serious, 

Words  that  whispered,  songs  that  haunted ! 

"  All  the  soul  in  rapt  suspension, 

All  the  quivering,  palpitating 
Chords  of  life  in  utmost  tension, 
With  the  fervour  of  invention, 

With  the  rapture  of  creating ! 

"  Heralds  still,  whose  hearts  unblighted 

Honour  and  believe  the  presage, 
Hold  aloft  their  torches  lighted, 
Gleaming  through  the  realms  benighted, 

As  they  onward  bear  the  message ! " 


X.— PAUL    AT    ATHENS. 

ACTS  xvii.  15—34 ;  1  THESS.  iii.  1. 

IT  was  by  night  that  Paul  and  Silas  were  sent  away  from 
Thessalonica.  There  had  been  tumult  and  violence,  and 
a  cry  of  treason  and  disloyalty  had  been  raised.  At 
such  a  time  it  would  have  been  easy  to  throw  the  city 
into  a  commotion,  and  in  the  midst  of  it  to  assassinate 
the  objects  of  popular  dislike.  Besides,  Jason  had  given 
bail,  probably  to  send  away  the  so-called  disturbers  of 
the  peace,  and  it  was  therefore  deemed  advisable  that 
Paul  and  Silas  should  leave  quietly  and  unobserved 
by  the  infuriated  rabble  and  their  malignant  instigators. 
The  missionaries  travelled  to  Berea,  fifty-seven  miles 
south-west,  and  commencing  their  evangelical  labours, 
found  the  Jews  in  that  city  more  docile  and  less  under 
the  influence  of  prejudice  than  those  in  Thessalonica. 
They  "received  the  word  with  all  readiness;"  and  were 
more  nolle — in  candour  and  frankness ;  more  ingenuous, 
for,  instead  of  scorning  the  truth  and  reviling  its  preachers, 
they  did  what  really  was  their  duty — "  they  searched  the 
scriptures  daily  whether  those  things  were  so  " — whether 
the  statements  made  by  Paul  corresponded  with  the  Hebrew 
oracles.  The  inference  then  is,  that  he  preached  in  the 
Berean  synagogue  the  same  truths,  and  in  much  the  same 
form,  as  he  had  done  in  the  previous  cities  which  he  had 
visited.  The  result  was,  as  indeed  always  happens  when 

M 


178  PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 

there  is  openness  of  mind  and  study  of  the  Bible,  that 
"  many  believed,"  honourable  women  which  were  Greeks — 
proselytes  of  high  rank — and  "  of  men  not  a  few." 

But  Jewish  rancour  never  slept.  It  had  failed  in  its 
object  so  far,  but  no  thanks  to  it — the  apostle  still  lived. 
Yet  it  pursued  him  with  the  staunchness  of  a  blood-hound, 
and  go  where  he  pleased,  it  soon  tracked  his  steps  and  came 
up  with  him.  For  we  are  told — "  But  when  the  Jews  of 
Thessalonica  had  knowledge  that  the  word  of  God  was 
preached  of  Paul  at  Berea,  they  came  thither  also  and 
stirred  up  the  people."  Paul  must  therefore  take  leave  of 
the  noble  Bereans,  and  still  pursue  his  southward  journey ; 
this  time  without  his  colleagues.  There  was  work  before 
him,  and  Jewish  spite  gave  him  no  rest  till  he  overtook  it. 
Though  he  had  been  invited  across  the  ^Egean  by  a  man 
of  Macedonia,  he  must  now  depart  from  that  province. 
They  "  immediately  sent  away  Paul  to  go  as  it  were  to  the 
sea;"  Silas  and  Timothy  being  left  behind.  The  words — 
"  as  it  were  to  the  sea,"  do  not  mean  as  they  seem  to  do 
in  English,  that  his  journey  sea-ward  was  a  mere  feint  to 
elude  his  enemies,  though  some  have  held  this  notion,  but 
merely  that  he  travelled  designedly  toward  the  sea.  Pro- 
bably he  might  not  intend  to  embark  at  once — at  least  for 
Athens — but  might  wish  to  revisit  Philippi  and  Thessa- 
lonica. It  is  not  formally  stated,  but  the  inference  is,  that 
Paul  went  by  sea  to  Athens.  The  journey  by  land  would 
have  been  one  of  two  hundred  arid  fifty-one  miles,  and 
there  is  no  record  of  it  or  of  any  place  visited  on  the  way  j 
whereas  the  voyage,  if  he  took  shipping  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Haliacmon,  might  be  accomplished  in  three  days.  The 


GLORIES  OF  GREECE.  179 

apostle,  after  sailing  past  shores,  islands,  mountains,  head- 
lands, and  scenes  of  imperishable  fame — Olympus,  Mara- 
thon, Salamis,  and  Sunium — landed  at  Phalerum,  or  rather 
at  the  Piraeus,  and  wending  his  way  between  the  long  walls 
built  by  Themistocles,  but  now  partly  in  ruins,  entered 
the  city — "mother  of  arts  and  eloquence" — the  intellec- 
tual metropolis  of  the  world. 

The  splendour  of  Greece  had  waned,  and  it  had  passed 
under  Koman  sway.  But  what  had  survived  the  ravages 
of  time  and  conquerors  attested  its  ancient  grandeur.  In 
that  region  of  south-eastern  Europe,  genius  had  dwelt 
incarnate.  It  had  built  the  loftiest  epics,  recited  the 
happiest  histories,  argued  in  the  stateliest  dialogues,  wept 
in  the  saddest  tragedies,  laughed  in  the  wittiest  comedies, 
harangued  in  the  mightiest  orations,  discoursed  in  the 
subtlest  metaphysics,  erected  the  noblest  temples,  carved 
the  truest  statues,  painted  the  divinest  pictures,  wrestled 
in  the  greatest  games,  spoken  the  finest  language,  sung 
the  gayest  songs,  and  fought  the  bravest  battles — that 
the  world  ever  saw.  The  studies  of  the  apostle,  not 
at  Jerusalem  certainly,  and  least  of  all  at  the  feet  of 
Gamaliel,  but  in  his  native  Tarsus,  renowned  for  its 
cultivation  of  Grecian  literature,  must  have  made  him 
acquainted  with  these  glories  of  Athens.  He  had  enjoyed 
the  grace  and  euphony  of  Xenophon,  and  been  charmed  with 
the  simple  dignity  of  Herodotus.  He  had  thrilled  under 
JEschylus,  and  glowed  with  Demosthenes,  whose  intense 
logic  and  barbed  interrogations  he  sometimes  reproduces. 
He  could  be  no  stranger  to  the  imagery  and  music  of 
Homer,  the  depth  and  beauty  of  Plato,  the  arms,  oratory, 


180  PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 

and  magnificence  of  Pericles,  or  the  terse  compacted  style 
of  Thucydides  which  he  occasionally  resembles;  and  he 
must  have  often  pictured  to  himself  the  groves  of  the  Ilissus, 
the  proportions  of  the  Parthenon,  and  the  keen  discussions 
of  the  Porch,  the  Academy,  the  Lyceum,  and  the  Garden. 

The  city  which  he  entered  was  "  built  nobly,  pure  the 
air,  and  light  the  soil."  The  limestone  rock  on  which 
Athens  stands,  supplied  the  ordinary  material  for  its 
buildings,  and  also  from  many  of  its  quarries  the  marble 
for  its  nobler  structures.  The  plain  is  bounded  by  ranges 
of  hills — on  the  north-west  by  Mount  Parnes,  on  the 
south-east  by  Mount  Hymettus,  and  on  the  north-east  by 
Mount  Pentelicus,  out  of  which  rises  the  higher  pinnacles 
of  Lycabettus,  looking  upon  the  city  as  Arthur's  seat  upon 
Edinburgh.  About  a  mile  south-west  from  it,  and  in  the 
city,  there  rose  the  Acropolis,  not  unlike  Stirling  castle  in  the 
upper  valley  of  the  Forth.  West  of  it  was  a  smaller  rock, 
the  Areopagus  or  scene  of  judgment — the  council  meeting 
in  the  open  air  on  its  south-eastern  summit,  and  sitting  on 
benches  hewn  out  in  the  rock,  which  form  three  sides  of  a 
quadrangle.  To  the  south-west,  and  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  from  it,  there  was  another  and  lower  eminence,  the 
Pnyx,  the  place  of  the  great  popular  assemblies — also  held 
in  the  open  air  under  the  deep  blue  of  a  Grecian  sky— 
with  its  bema  or  stone  block  on  which  the  orator  stood 
and  addressed  the  crowd,  which  gathered  in  a  semicircular 
area  of  twelve  thousand  square  yards  before  him,  and 
where  Solon,  Demosthenes,  and  Pericles  often  spoke  to  the 
assembled  "  men  of  Athens." 

The   apostle  is  now  in  this  city,  not  ignorant  of  its 


IDOLATRY.  181 

ancient  renown,  of  its  history  and  literature.  And  he  was 
alone,  having  sent  word  by  those  who  conducted  him  to 
Athens,  to  Timothy  and  Silas  to  rejoin  him  "with  all 
speed."  Timothy  soon  came,  but  was  soon  sent  off  again 
to  Thessalonica,  as  we  learn  from  1  Thess.  iii.  1,  2.  In 
fact,  it  would  seem  as  if  Paul  had  originally  intended  to 
make  Athens  only  a  rendezvous,  and  not  a  scene  of  labour, 
till  he  found  from  Timothy  that  Macedonia  was  still  shut 
against  him.  As  he  waited,  he  wandered  through  its 
streets  with  inquisitive  and  sorrowing  gaze,  it  was  so 
unlike  Jerusalem,  the  city  of  God.  His  spirit  was  stirred 
within  him — roused  and  excited  to  profound  grief  and 
indignation,  as  he  surveyed  its  glories,  not  with  the  eye  of 
an  artist,  but  that  of  a  Christian.  The  statues  and  temples 
were  not  looked  on  by  him  as  the  creations  of  genius,  but 
the  means  and  results  of  debasing  superstitions.  Intellect, 
taste,  and  beauty  were  alike  profaned,  for  the  one  God 
was  dethroned.  Wherever  the  solitary  stranger  gazed, 
he  saw  the  manifestations  of  polytheism — nature  deified, 
humanity  depicted  as  superhuman,  and  virtues,  nay,  even 
vices,  exalted  into  divinities.  It  was  an  unwonted  sight 
which  greeted  him.  The  city  was  wholly  given  to  idolatry 
— idol-full ;  crammed,  as  one  might  say,  with  idols — one 
idolatrous  mass.  Its  public  buildings  were  consecrated  as 
temples,  and  its  streets  and  forums  thickly  peopled  with 
statues  of  the  gods.  Never  had  he  seen  the  second  com- 
mandment so  wantonly  and  systematically  violated ;  never 
had  he  beheld  so  much  art  and  wealth  lavished  on  a 
wretched  idolatry.  There  had  never  met  his  gaze  such 
artistic  beauty  of  appearance  with  such  spiritual  deformity 


182  PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 

of  purpose,  such  symmetry  of  form  and  structure  with  such 
miserable  misconception  of  the  Divine  unity  and  infinity. 
The  epithet  "  idol-full "  given  by  Luke  to  Athens,  is  fully 
verified  by  ancient  writers  both  of  satire  and  history.  One 
of  the  former  affirms  that  it  was  easier  to  find  a  god  than  a 
man  in  it ;  and  one  of  the  latter,  that  it  was  one  whole 
altar,  one  entire  sacrifice  and  offering  to  the  gods.  Another 
tells  us  how  a  person  could  scarce  find  his  way  through  its 
streets  for  the  troops  of  idol-mongers.  In  the  crowds  of  gods 
which,  turn  as  you  will,  your  eye  gazed  upon,  were  Minerva 
and  Neptune,  Jupiter  and  Ceres,  Apollo  and  Bacchus, 
Hercules  and  Theseus,  the  Muses  and  the  Furies,  Venus 
and  the  Graces,  Diana  and  the  Nymphs  of  the  D£mos  or 
civic  assembly.  Altars  or  temples  were  erected  to  Fame, 
Modesty  ?  Energy,  Mercy,  Persuasion,  Victory,  and  Oblivion. 
But  the  apostle  was  no  vulgar  iconoclast ;  he  did  not  lift 
his  arm,  and  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts  "  break  down 
the  carved  work."  He  sought  to  reach  the  hearts  of  men, 
and  therefore  he  first  spoke  to  his  countrymen  and  to  the 
proselytes,  and  then  turned  to  the  Athenian  population. 
These  last  he  met  in  the  market-place — forum — which  was 
usually  crowded  with  loungers.  This  market-place  of 
Athens,  surrounded  by  stately  porticoes  and  colonnades, 
served  not  only  the  purpose  of  an  exchange  and  news- 
room, was  not  only  a  scene  of  pleasure  as  well  as  business, 
but  philosophers  and  poets  traversed  it,  and  the  sharp  wit 
of  the  people  was  whetted  by  a  perpetual  war  of  words 
and  exchange  of  raillery.  It  was,  in  short,  the  heart  of 
Athens,  sending  forth  its  vital  currents  on  all  sides.  Every 
variety  of  population  was  there,  and  the  apostle  easily  found 


EPICUREANS  AND  STOICS.  183 

numbers  to  listen  to  his  preaching,  to  batter  him  with 
question  upon  question,  to  turn  his  earnestness  into  ridicule, 
and  toss  aside  with  satiric  levity  or  gay  invective  the  point 
of  his  argument  and  appeals.  A  man  of  his  experience 
and  practical  wisdom  could  easily  secure  such  admissions 
and  extort  such  assents  from  an  opponent,  as  that  he  should 
be  led,  step  by  step  and  unconsciously,  to  an  untenable 
conclusion  or  one  in  utter  contrast  to  his  original  state- 
ment, and  thus  the  onlookers  would  be  reminded  of  the 
humour  and  shrewdness  of  the  old  Socratic  dialogue. 

Close  upon  the  agora  or  forum  was  a  porch  or  arcade, 
painted  with  frescos  from  the  battle  of  Marathon;  there 
Zeno  had  taught,  and  there  the  Stoics,  his  followers, 
still  congregated.  The  audacity  of  a  Hebrew  foreigner  in 
daring  to  ascribe  ignorance  to  the  sages  of  Athens,  and  in 
affirming  that  he  was  the  vehicle  of  a  new  and  superior 
philosophy,  must  have  created  a  sensation  which  not  only 
surged  through  the  populace,  but  reached  the  schools  of 
philosophy.  The  Epicureans  and  Stoics,  therefore,  assailed 
him,  and  some  of  them  set  him  down  as  a  babbler — one  that 
fluently  retails  meaningless  scraps,  and  others  as  a  preacher 
of  new  divinities.  The  last  conclusion  was  nearest  the  truth, 
though  the  expression  proved  how  grievously  they  misin- 
terpreted the  apostle's  message.  Other  some  said — "  He 
seemeth  to  be  a  setter  forth  of  strange  gods."  The  plural 
"  gods  "  may  be  used  for  the  singular,  the  reference  being 
to  Jesus,  and  to  the  resurrection  as  proving  his  Godhead ; 
but  it  is  a  very  natural  inference  from  the  subjoined  expla- 
nation, because  he  preached  unto  them  "Jesus  and  the 
resurrection,"  that  the  Greek  term  anastasis — resurrection, 


184  PAUL  AT   ATHENS. 

was  taken  for  a  female  deity,  a3  if  Paul  had  brought  to 
Athens  a  new  pair  of  divinities.  His  preaching  opposed 
the  Epicurean  theory  of  creation  and  the  Stoical  notion  of 
providence ;  proclaimed  a  personal  presiding  God,  who  has 
created  all  things,  whose  worship  must  be  spiritual,  and  on 
whom  man  depends  for  being  and  well-being ;  who  takes  an 
interest  in  every  creature,  and  orders  all  things  wisely  and 
well  5  who  has  perfect  freedom  of  action,  ruling  as  He  wills  ; 
whose  heart  is  as  tender  as  His  arm  is  powerful;  whose 
pure  and  righteous  law  commands  obedience ;  whose  image 
seeks  conformity  from  man  as  his  highest  dignity  and  per- 
fection, and  whose  presence  and  glory  in  another  sphere  are 
the  crown  of  that  immortal  blessedness  which  His  genuine 
worshippers  are  assured  of  possessing.  Such  novelties 
excited  both  the  philosophers  and  the  volatile  population, 
whose  passion  for  news  was  proverbial.  Paul  was,  therefore, 
brought  out  of  the  noise  and  bustle  of  the  forum  up  those  six- 
teen steps  cut  in  the  rock  to  Mars-hill — Areopagus — not  to 
be  tried,  but  to  address  the  assembly  on  that  convenient  and 
hallowed  spot.  He  was  not  arraigned  or  put  on  his  defence, 
but  was  taken  to  Mars-hill,  only  to  gratify  the  inquisitive 
population,  who  said,  with  a  tinge  of  polite  irony — "May 
we,"  or  can  we,  "  know  what  this  new  doctrine  whereof 
thou  speakest  is?"  The  historian,  to  explain  the  cause  of 
this  eager  procedure,  which  the  apostle  met  with  nowhere 
else,  adds  a  trait  of  Athenian  character — "  For  all  the 
Athenians,  and  strangers  which  were  there,  spent  their 
time  in  nothing  else,  but  either  to  tell  or  to  hear  some  new 
thing'1'' — some  newer  thing  than  the  last  news  they  had 
gathered.  Demosthenes  himself  cries  in  his  first  Philippic 


MARS-HILL.  1 85 

— "  Do  ye  like  walking  about  and  asking  one  another,  is 
there  any  news  ?  Why,  could  there  be  greater  news  than 
a  man  o£  Macedon  conquering  the  Athenians  and  directing 
the  policy  of  Greece?" 

/  On  these  stone  benches  had  sat  the  judges  so  renowned 
for  equity  in  former  times,  and  there  many  a  solemn 
appeal  and  stirring  oration  had  been  delivered  for  and 
against  the  culprit.  The  associations  connected  with  the 
scene  might  indeed  have  overpowered  him.  There  had 
Socrates,  at  seventy  years  of  age,  been  judged  and  con- 
demned as  "a  setter  forth  of  strange  gods,"  and  he  was 
about  to  declaim  against  the  prevalent  idolatry,  standing 
in  the  midst  of  its  artistic  and  architectural  glories.  Well 
might  his  heart  be  stilled  for  a  moment  when  he  remem- 
bered his  position  where  many  a  brave  man  had  quailed, 
and  when  he  thought  of  the  fastidious  and  prejudiced 
audience  before  him,  and  of  the  solemn  and  unwelcome 
truths  he  was  about  to  announce  to  them.  Yet  he  stands 
unmoved,  while  mighty  thoughts  are  stirring  within  him. 
He  rises  to  the  occasion,  and  as  his  eye  takes  in  the  scene, 
he  begins  as  easily,  quietly,  and  pointedly,  as  if  he  had 
been  wont  to  stand  there  before — "  Ye  men  of  Athens,  I 
perceive  that  in  every  point  of  view  ye  carry  your  reverence 
for  the  gods  farther  than  most :  for,  as  I  was  passing  along 
and  inspecting  the  objects  of  your  devotion,  I  found  also 
an  altar  on  which  had  been  inscribed — "  To  an  Unknown 
God;"  what,  therefore,  without  knowing  it,  ye  worship, 
that  I  proclaim  to  you.  The  God  who  made  the  world 
and  all  that  is  in  it,  as  being  Himself  Lord  of  heaven  and 
earth,  dwelleth  not  in  hand-made  temples,  neither  is  He 


186 


PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 


ministered  to  with  men's  hands  as  if  He  were  in  want  of 
anything,  seeing  Himself  is  giving  to  all  life,  breath,  and 
all  things,  and  did  make  every  nation  of  men  sprung  of 
one  blood  to  dwell  on  the  whole  face  of  the  earth,  having 
appointed  the  times  and  the  limits  of  their  habitation, 
so  as  that  they  should  seek  God,  if  by  any  chance  they 
might  feel  after  and  find  Him.  And,  indeed,  He  is  not 
far  from  every  one  of  us,  for  in  Him  we  live,  and  move, 
and  have  our  being,  as  also  some  of  your  own  poets  have 
said — l  For  His  offspring  also  are  we.'  Therefore,  being  the 
offspring  of  God,  we  ought  not  to  think  that  the  divine 
nature  is  like  gold,  or  silver,  or  stone,  the  sculpture  of 
man's  art  and  device.  The  past  periods  of  this  ignorance 
God  having  indeed  overlooked,  does  now  command  all  men 
in  all  places  to  repent ;  because  He  has  appointed  a  day  in 
which  He  will  judge  the  world  in  righteousness  by  that 
man  whom  He  has  ordained,  having  afforded  assurance  to 
all  men,  in  that  He  has  raised  Him  from  the  dead." — The 
address,  for  the  sake  of  illustration,  may  be  divided  into 
three  parts. 


PAUL  AT  ATHENS.  187 


fart  t 

The  apostle  thus  commences — "Ye  men  of  Athens,  I  per- 
ceive that  in  all  things  ye  are  too  superstitious'1'1 — or,  rather, 
"ye  cany  your  reverence  for  the  gods  farther  than  most." 
The  phrase,  "  too  superstitious,"  as  implying  blame,  is  an 
unfortunate  translation.  The  apostle  appeals  simply  to  the 
fact,  and  not  to  its  character.  He  only  uttered  a  common- 
place, for  the  Athenians  were  noted  among  the  other 
Grecian  peoples  for  this  propensity.  They  had  pre- 
eminence in  the  scrupulous  and  unlimited  attention  paid  by 
them  to  the  national  worship.  The  inspired  orator  alludes 
simply  to  this  notorious  circumstance,  but  neither  smiles 
at  it  in  compliment,  nor  frowns  upon  it  in  censure.  The 
implication  is,  that  he  came  to  guide  and  rectify  this  ten- 
dency of  the  Athenian  mind.  It  had  outcropped  in  every 
possible  way,  and  given  a  multiform  expression  to  itself  in 
sculpture  and  masonry ;  but  his  mission  was  to  turn  it  into 
the  true  course,  and  lead  it  to  the  knowledge  of  the  one, 
pure,  invisible,  infinite,  eternal,  and  loving  Spirit. 

Standing  where  the  apostle  did,  he  saw  his  words  verified 
all  around  him.  Above  him  was  a  temple  of  Mars  from 
whom  the  hill  took  its  name;  and  near  him  was  the  subter- 
ranean sanctuary  of  the  Eumenides  or  Furies,  but  usually 
called  by  the  first  title,  from  the  same  feeling  which  led  the 
old  Scottish  people  to  name  the  fairies  the  "  good  folk," 
though  they  were  a  waspish  and  capricious  race.  The  forum 
he  had  left  was  studded  with  statues,  the  altar  of  the  twelve 


188 


PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 


gods  being  in  its  centre  and  the  temple  of  Venus  at  its 
eastern  end,  while  on  all  sides  of  it  were  deified  heroes  of  the 
old  mythology.  Behind  him  was  the  Pnyx  sacred  to  Jove, 
and  before  him  was  the  Acropolis,  its  sides  and  summit 
covered  with  religious  monuments,  every  available  ledge 
laden  with  its  shrine  or  image,  its  platforms  filled  with 
sculptured  groups  of  gods  in  various  forms  and  attitudes ; 
on  its  northern  extremity  the  Erectheum,  with  its  inclosures 
and  its  presiding  deities ;  the  cave  of  Pan  and  Apollo  with 
its  sacred  fountain  not  far  from  its  base,  and  adjoining  it 
the  sanctuary  of  Aglaurus ;  and  the  Parthenon  crowning 
the  whole,  the  central  glory  of  the  scene ;  while  opposite 
the  magnificent  Propylsea,  and  formed  out  of  the  trophies 
of  Marathon,  was  the  gigantic  bronze  statue  of  the  goddess 
herself,  with  spear  and  shield — the  name-mother  of  the  city, 
and  its  great  protector.  In  the  north-west  quarter  was  the 
temple  of  Theseus,  and  in  the  opposite  direction  was  that  of 
Jupiter  Olympius.  A  temple  of  Ceres  was  close  to  the 
Pompeium,  in  which  were  kept  the  robes  and  vases  for  the 
religious  processions ;  and  a  temple  of  the  divine  Mother 
was  near  to  the  great  council-house  in  which  also  were 
shrines  and  altars.  There  were  shrines,  too,  at  the  prin- 
cipal gates.  The  altar  of  Prometheus  was  within  the 
groves  of  the  Academy;  and  the  Lyceum,  with  its  tall 
plane-trees,  was  dedicated  to  Apollo.  There  were  also  the 
Pythium  and  the  Delphinium,  characteristic  names  of 
temples,  with  those  of  Euclea,  of  Castor  and  Pollux,  and  of 
Serapis.  Every  street,  in  short,  had  some  object  or  scene 
of  devotion;  every  view  was  bounded  and  fringed  with 
fanes  and  idols.  Paul  had  now  visited  many  towns,  had 


THE    UNKNOWN   GOD.  189 

been  at  Antioch,  Paphos,  and  Philippi,  but  he  had  seen 
nothing  to  compare  with  Athens  in  its  excessive  idolatry. 

The  apostle  then  gives  the  plain  reason  why  he  con- 
cluded that  the  Athenians  were  careful  beyond  others  in 
this  worship — "  For  as  I  passed  by  and  beheld  your  devo- 
tions " — rather,  "as  I  was  passing  along  and  surveying  the 
objects  of  your  devotion,  I  found  an  altar  with  this  inscrip- 
tion— l  To  the  Unknown  God' " — more  correctly,  "  to  an 
Unknown  God."  This  is  the  apostle's  proof  of  his  previous 
statement,  and  he  bases  it  on  his  own  personal  observation. 
He  tells  them  that  what  he  saw  was  evidence  of  their  great 
scrupulosity  in  matters  of  worship.  Not  only  did  they 
worship  gods  whose  titles  and  attributes  they  knew,  but 
they  had  built  an  altar  to  a  foreign  god,  whose  name  even 
they  were  not  acquainted  with,  and  offered  homage  to  an 
anonymous  divinity.  They  were  not  contented  with  their 
own  gods,  but  they  had  introduced  a  nameless  stranger, 
and  erected  an  altar  to  him.  Were  they  not  then,  as  he 
had  named  them,  lavish  in  their  worship — so  sweepingly 
attentive  in  their  religion  as  to  recognize  in  their 
extravagant  devotions  the  existence  of  an  undiscovered 
divinity?  Ancient  writers  verify  the  apostle's  statement. 
Philostratus,  in  his  life  of  Apollonius,  that  strange  wan- 
derer, says — "It  is  safe  to  speak  well  of  all  the  gods, 
especially  at  Athens,  where  are  erected  also  altars  of 
unknown  gods."  Pausanias,  who  visited  Athens  about  a 
hundred  years  after  the  apostle,  and  has  left  a  full  account 
of  the  city,  speaks  of  such  an  altar  at  Phalerum,  one  of  the 
ports  of  the  city.  How  the  custom  originated,  we  know 
not.  It  is  said,  that  during  a  plague,  when  it  was  not 


190  PAUL   AT   ATHENS. 

ascertained  which  of  the  gods  had  sent  it,  an  altar  was 
built  to  the  appropriate  divinity  whoever  he  was — and  they 
did  not  identify  him  for  fear  of  mistake — was  built  to  him 
who  had  sent  it,  and  who  could  alone  remove  it,  though  his 
name  was  unknown.  But,  in  reality,  this  impulse  was  the 
natural  result  of  polytheism.  Amidst  the  multiplicity  of 
gods,  there  was  great  anxiety  lest  any  one  should  be  for- 
gotten, for  the  neglected  deity  might  be  affronted  at  such  an 
omission,  and  be  provoked  to  punish  it.  The  worshipper 
therefore  offered  homage  to  all  the  gods  he  knew — and  to 
all  others,  if  any  existed,  though  he  did  not  know  them. 
He  dreaded  the  vengeance  of  some  power  unrecognized  by 
him ;  and  to  secure  that  every  deity  was  invoked,  he  might 
erect  an  altar  to  an  unknown  god.  Miserable  uncertainty ! 
when  the  devotee  on  the  one  hand  feared  the  revenge  of 
some  god,  if  he  did  homage  to  his  rival,  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  incurred  an  awful  retribution  if,  in  his  haste  or 
ignorance,  any  of  the  hosts  of  deities  should  be  unackow- 
ledged  and  slighted  by  him !  Amidst  the  crowds  of  known 
and  shrined  divinities  at  Athens,  there  was  one  with  an 
altar,  but  without  a  name — an  unknown  god.  On  the 
./statement  of  this  fact,  so  patent  to  his  audience,  and  which 
probably  they  accepted  as  a  tribute  to  their  catholic  piety? 
the  apostle  skilfully  and  suddenly  founds  his  defence  and 
introduction.  In  the  synagogue  he  had  selected  his  theme 
from  Moses,  but  on  the  Areopagus  he  takes  his  text  from 
a  heathen  altar.  To  the  children  of  Abraham  he  pro- 
claimed the  Christ,  but  to  the  citizens  of  Athens  he 
"  preached  Jesus."  Nor  did  he  declaim,  like  an  excited 
Jew,  against  pagan  idolatry,  but  he  penetrated  to  the 


TRUE  CHARACTER  OF  IDOLATRY.  191 

feeling  which  lies  beneath  it — to  that  inner  necessity  under 
which  man  must  worship ;  and  thus  he  adds — 

"  Whom,  therefore,  ye  ignorantly  worship,  Him  declare 
I  unto  you;"  or  "  What,  therefore,  not  knowing  it,  ye  wor- 
ship, that  I  proclaim  unto  you."  The  neuter  form  makes 
the  declaration  more  emphatic  from  its  very  vagueness. 
The  apostle  admits  that  they  worshipped,  for  a  feeling  of 
instinctive  devotion  underlies  polytheism.  True,  indeed, 
he  argues — "  What  say  I  then  ?  that  the  idol  is  anything  ? 
or  that  which  is  offered  in  sacrifice  to  idols  is  anything  ? 
But  I  say,  that  the  things  which  the  Gentiles  sacrifice, 
they  sacrifice  to  devils,  and  not  to  God :  and  I  would  not 
that  ye  should  have  fellowship  with  devils."  In  this 
passage,  addressed  to  the  neighbouring  city  of  Corinth, 
the  apostle  dwells  on  the  result  or  actual  character  of 
idolatry.  Being  such  a  violation  of  the  divine  law,  it  is 
a  sphere  of  the  devil's  operation  so  contrived  that  he 
is  adored.  It  is  not  Jupiter  that  is  worshipped,  since 
there  is  no  such  being  or  power.  Evil  spirits  lurk  behind 
the  idolatrous  framework,  and  make  it  subservient  to  their 
purposes,  prey  upon  man's  worshipping  instincts,  and 
really  receive  the  homage.  Yet  there  is  worship  offered 
on  the  part  of  man ;  his  ignorant  and  fallen  spirit  knows 
that  there  is  something  above  it,  something  which  can 
and  does  shape  its  destiny,  with  which  it  is  indissolubly 
connected,  and  to  which  it,  therefore,  erects  temples  and 
consecrates  altars.  It  would  be  rash  to  affirm  that  the 
apostle  expressly  identifies  the  "  unknown  God "  with 
the  true  God.  The  unknown  God  was  some  being  over 
and  beyond  their  conventional  divinities,  and  there  is  no 


192  PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 

proof  that  the  mysterious  God  of  the  Jews  was  intended. 
But  such  an  altar  was  a  confession  that  their  catalogue  did 
not  comprehend  all  the  powers  and  essences  of  the  universe,* 
that  there  was  or  might  be  some  Being  beyond  the  circuit 
of  their  recognition,  who  might  be  chagrined  or  angry  if 
Athens  should  overlook  him.  This  admission  the  speaker 
seizes  on,  and  says — There  is  such  a  God,  unknown, 
indeed,  to  you,  and  Him  I  proclaim.  He  thus  replies  that, 
in  one  sense,  he  is  not  "a  setter  forth  of  strange  gods  5"  but 
he  does  not  say  that  the  very  god  who  owned  the  anony- 
mous altar  was  Jehovah,  for  the  god  of  that  altar  must 
have  been  really  an  idol,  so  far  as  Athenian  imagination 
pictured  him.  But  he  took  the  idea  which  the  inscription 
implied,  and  expanded  it.  There  is  a  God  unknown  to 
you — a  being  not  found  in  your  lists — who  has  no  statue 
among  these  numerous  groups,  and  no  temple  on  that 
eminence ;  Him  so  dimly  and  scantily  acknowledged,  the 
one  true  God,  I  proclaim.  By  this  very  thought  he  takes 
Him  out  of  the  category  of  the  Greek  divinities.  He  is  not 
one  of  them,  nor  yet  another  of  similar  nature  who  claims 
admission  among  them.  O,  no.  He  is — 

"  God  that  made  the  world,  and  all  things  therein,  see- 
ing that  He  is  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  dwelleth  not  in 
temples  made  with  hands."  He  is  God,  the  one  Creator — 
of  earth,  and  all  in  it  and  on  it  ;  its  furniture  and  its  popu- 
lation; its  botanical  productions  and  its  living  creatures. 
The  one  God  made  the  world — its  hills  with  their  crowns 
of  snow,  and  its  valleys  with  their  fields  and  flowers ;  its 
rivers,  lakes,  and  seas ;  its  mines  and  minerals ;  its  grasses 
and  herbs;  its  rock  and  soils;  its  climates  and  physical 


GOD   THE   CREATOR.  193 

influences ;  every  nation  upon  it,  and  all  that  supports 
them  and  gives  them  occupation  or  pleasure.  Tokens  of 
His  existence  are  on  every  side — alike  in  the  atom  of  sand 
and  the  strata  of  majestic  mountains ;  in  the  lordly  eagle 
and  in  the  insect  that  sports  away  its  existence  during 
the  brief  sunset;  as  well  in  the  instinct  which  rules  the 
lower  creation,  as  in  the  reason  which  dignifies  man.  The 
air  around,  and  the  breeze  which  freshens  into  a  hurricane — 
the  tide  which  lifts  the  water  of  the  gulf  and  harbour  with 
such  periodical  uniformity ;  the  freshness  of  spring  and  the 
life  of  summer  —  all  are  brought  into  being  by  the  one 
God  on  high.  Nothing  is  self-produced.  He  is  the  one 
Maker.  Trees  may  propagate  themselves,  but  their  veins 
and  vessels,  their  secret  chemical  elaborations,  their  life  and 
organism,  the  fruit  of  the  fig  and  the  oil  of  the  Athenian 
olive,  are  from  Him.  The  sculptor  does  not  originate  his 
materials,  nor  the  painter  his  colours ;  each  finding  them 
as  made  by  the  great  Artist  only  recombines  and  applies 
them.  Demosthenes  did  not  invent  the  language  in  which 
he  spoke,  any  more  than  the  nightingale  had  taught  herself 
the  melody  which  gushes  from  her  throat.  The  Creator's 
inspiration  gives  not  only  the  love  of  art  and  the  endow- 
ments of  genius,  but  He  has  also  supplied  what  art  and 
genius  had  wrought  upon — the  metal  out  of  which  the 
sword  of  Miltiades  had  been  forged,  the  parchment  on 
which  the  laws  of  Solon  had  been  inscribed,  and  the  ivory 
and  gold  out  of  which  the  queenly  statue  of  the  city- 
goddess  had  been  constructed.  Nor  does  nature  only  prove 
that  there  is  an  original  vital  force,  but  also  that  this  force, 
as  guided  by  wisdom  and  prompted  by  love,  resides  in  a 

N 


194  PAUL   AT   ATHENS. 

living  personal  Intelligence.  The  world  is  not  eternal,  nor 
is  it  the  result  of  an  eternal  series  of  causes,  or  the  won- 
drous product  of  chance.  Nay,  the  more  we  explore  the 
causes  in  operation  around  us,  and  the  farther  and  higher 
we  carry  our  analysis  of  them,  the  more  do  we  feel  them 
relieved  of  complexity  and  converging  into  unity,  and  the 
more  clearly  do  we  discern  that  all  causes  are  themselves 
but  the  effects  of  the  First  Great  Cause,  Himself  uncaused 
— the  "  God  that  made  the  world  and  all  things  therein." 

This  conception  strikes  at  the  root  of  polytheism.  The 
Athenians  had  their  gods  which  they  specially  claimed,  and 
the  nations  around  them  rejoiced  in  similar  property.  The 
gods  of  the  one  were  not  the  gods  of  the  other,  nor  was  any 
alliance  recognized  among  them.  Each  race  had  its  own 
tutelar  divinity,  to  whose  mythic  powers  it  owed  its  exist- 
ence, and  sometimes  its  name.  The  hill  on  which  Paul 
stood  had  its  title  from  one  god,  and  the  city  had  its  name 
from  the  guardian  goddess  Minerva — Pallas  Athene*.  But 
the  apostle  vindicates  the  unity  of  God  as  sole  Creator. 
He  made  and  filled  the  earth — "  The  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and 
the  fulness  thereof,  the  world,  and  they  that  dwell  therein." 
The  Athenians  spent  their  time  in  continuous  inquiries 
after  something  new ;  surely  their  passion  for  novelty  was 
now  gratified.  Creation  was  a  new  idea  to  them.  Plato 
had  not  dreamed  of  it ;  Aristotle  had  taken  it  out  of  the 
range  of  possibilities.  The  relation  of  matter  to  mind  was 
not  understood  among  them,  nor  could  they  speculate  suc- 
cessfully on  the  origin  of  the  universe.  But  the  apostle's 
simple  statement  laid  down  the  truth,  that  the  earth  took 
its  being  from  God's  creative  power,  was  not,  on  the  one 


CREATION.  195 

hand,  a  fortuitous  concourse  of  atoms,  nor,  on  the  other, 
the  result  of  some  necessary  law  which  controlled  divinity 
itself,  or  acted  without  the  superintendence  of  a  personal 
governing  God.  The  forms  of  creation,  as  shown  by  modern 
science,  prove  it  to  have  been  a  voluntary  act,  and  not  the 
product  of  what  a  French  philosopher  calls  "  a  necessary 
force."  Nor  has  the  Creator  been  obliged  to  repeat  Him- 
self. The  fossils  of  the  earlier  rocks  have  no  analogues 
among  the  beds  of  the  tertiaries.  Successive  acts  of  crea- 
tion, and  the  introduction  of  a  thousand  new  species,  did 
not  exhaust  His  styles  of  work.  "The  Lord  God,  the 
Creator  of  the  ends  of  the  earth,  fainteth  not,  neither  is 
weary."  He  is  not,  as  those  Epicureans  dreamed,  some 
dim  phantom  far  above  the  stars  in  idle  and  voluptuous 
indifference ;  nor  is  He,  as  the  Stoic  argued,  the  soul  of 
the  world,  which 

"  Lives  through  all  life,  extends  through  all  extent, 
Spreads  undivided,  operates  unspent." 

God  made  the  earth,  and  He  is  above  it  and  apart  from  it, 
but  yet  its  active  Lord  and  untiring  benefactor ;  and  it  is 
in  no  sense  the  complement  of  His  being,  or  a  necessary 
evolution  of  His  essence.  The  one  Creator  is  enthroned 
upon  the  work  of  His  hands. 

Creation  is  thus  ascribed  by  the  apostle  to  God,  and 
though  we  cannot  comprehend  the  act  or  process,  we  never 
can  doubt  it.  For,  if  there  has  been  no  creation,  then  all 
is  eternal,  and  all  is  God  or  an  evolution  of  God.  On 
such  a  hypothesis  there  can  be  no  law,  no  freedom,  no  per- 
sonality, and  no  moral  distinctions ;  for  what  we  term  sin 
would  be  as  really  thought  or  done  by  God  as  what  we 


196  PAUL  AT   ATHENS. 

term  virtue,  since  He  would  be  the  only  thinker  and  agent 
in  the  universe.  But,  though  we  cannot  understand 
creation  as  either  the  making  of  something  out  of  nothing, 
or  the  eduction  of  result  from  latent  almighty  power,  or 
the  image  of  what  is  real  in  the  archetypal  Mind,  we  can 
know  it  in  some  of  its  properties.  We  can  picture  a  por- 
tion of  space  unfurnished,  and  then  picture  it  as  peopled 
with  worlds.  Nor  will  it  avail  as  an  argument  against 
the  idea  of  creation,  that  it  implies  change  in  an  unchange- 
able God ;  for  the  purpose  to  create  is  eternal,  and  omni- 
potence is  not  changed  in  essence  when  it  puts  forth  an 
effort.  The  relation  of  the  finite  to  the  infinite  is  of  all 
things  indeed  the  most  perplexing.  That  the  one  and  that 
the  other  exists  our  consciousness  assures  us  in  every  act 
of  cognition.  To  deny  the  infinite  and  sink  into  atheism, 
or  to  deny  the  finite  and  dream  ourselves  into  pantheism, 
is  a  revolt  against  reason,  a  vain  attempt  to  burst  those 
limits  which  are  necessarily  imposed  upon  human  thought. 
We  enter  not  on  the  question  as  to  man's  knowledge  of 
the  infinite,  or  as  to  the  form  and  foundation  of  his  consti- 
tutional beliefs.  Only  it  is  evident  to  consciousness  that 
ideas  of  eternity  and  infinity  surround  all  our  thoughts, 
for  to  whatever  point  of  time  or  of  space  we  reach  forth  in 
fancy,  we  are  forced  to  believe  in  time  and  space  still 
stretching  beyond.  It  is  true  that  we  can  neither  grasp 
infinitude  nor  span  eternity,  but  we  do  have  a  notion  of 
either  without  a  comprehension  of  them — such  a  notion  as 
suffices  for  faith  and  worship.  So  feeble  is  reason  out  of 
its  sphere,  and  so  true,  in  fine,  is  the  declaration  of  the 
apostle — "Through  faith  we  understand  that  the  worlds 


GOD   THE   PROPRIETOR.  197 

were  framed  by  the  word  of  God;  so  that  things  which 
are  seen  were  not  made  of  things  which  do  appear." 

And  as  the  sole  originator  He  has  the  indefeasible  right 
of  being  sole  governor.  He  is  "  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth," 
proprietor  and  ruler  of  the  universe — not  earth  only,  but 
heaven  and  earth.  The  immense  spaces  that  the  Greek 
imagination  could  roam  in,  where  the  sun  flamed  in  splen- 
dour, and  the  moon  waxed  and  waned  in  serener  glory, 
and  the  stars  shone  out  like  "  isles  of  light,"  are,  when 
surveyed  by  the  telescopic  glass,  found  to  be  furnished  with 
innumerable  worlds.  Nothing  like  a  limit  to  creation  can 
be  discovered ;  far  as  man  can  penetrate  he  finds  star  upon 
star  in  compacted  array.  The  distant  star-dust  has  been 
resolved  into  densely-crowded  orbs;  and  light  from  the 
remoter  nebulae  must  have  been  two  million  of  years  on  its 
journey  to  us.  The  Lord  of  heaven  has  a  kingdom  which 
no  imagination  can  measure  in  its  vastness,  nor  depict  in  its 
variety  and  grandeur — the  firmament  thickly  strewn  with 
suns  and  planets.  Surely  such  a  one  "  dwelleth  not  in 
temples  made  with  hands."  The  temples  in  front  of  the 
apostle,  around  him,  and  behind  him,  were  the  boast  of 
Grecian  taste  and  skill.  The  gods  to  whom  they  were 
dedicated  were  supposed,  in  some  vague  sense,  to  fill  them. 
Their  respective  gods  had  shrines  in  them,  and  claimed 
them  as  their  residence.  They  were,  indeed,  of  unsurpassed 
magnificence.  The  Theseum  was  the  earliest  and  most 
complete;  the  temple  of  Wingless  Victory  was  "a  thing  of 
beauty;"  and  there  was  in  front  of  him  the  Parthenon — 
virgin's  house,  or  temple  of  Minerva — of  majestic  mass 
and  outline,  formed  of  Pentelican  marble,  with  its  forty-six 


198  PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 

Doric  columns  adorned  with  sculptures  and  friezes,  and  its 
inner  walls  decorated  with  choicest  paintings.  But  the 
Infinite  can  dwell  in  no  such  structure  ;  nor  needs  He 
such  a  domicile.  He  fills  space ;  infinitude  is  His  temple. 
"  Whither  shall  I  go  from  thy  Spirit  ?  or  whither  shall  I 
flee  from  thy  presence  ?  If  I  ascend  up  into  heaven,  thou 
art  there :  if  I  make  my  bed  in  hell,  behold  thou  art  there. 
If  I  take  the  wings  of  the  morning,  and  dwell  in  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  sea  ;  even  there  shall  thy  hand  lead  me 
and  thy  right  hand  shall  hold  me."  This  God  whom 
Paul  made  known  had  no  rival,  no  one  like  Him,  no  one 
second  to  Him ;  nor  could  He  be  supposed  to  inhabit  any 
edifice  built  by  the  hands  of  man.  Such  a  notion  was 
unworthy  of  Him;  it  brought  him  down  to  the  level  of 
humanity,  as  if  He  were  one  of  many  tenants,  and  not  the 
one  proprietor.  To  localize  Him  would  be  to  degrade 
Him. 

"  Neither  is  He  worshipped  with  men's  hands,  as  though 
He  needed  anything;"  worshipped — served  or  cared  for. 
The  popular  heathen  idea  was  that  the  gods  needed  to  be 
ministered  unto,  though  the  minds  of  a  few  thinking  men, 
as  Lucretius  and  Seneca,  might  rise  above  such  a  gross 
conception.  Thus  the  priest  of  Apollo  remonstrates : — 

"  If  e'er  with  wreaths  I  hung  thy  sacred  fane, 
Or  fed  the  flames  with  fat  of  oxen  slain, 
God  of  the  silver  bow,  thy  shafts  employ, 
Avenge  thy  servant,  and  the  Greeks  destroy." 

The  god  was  supposed  to  be  placed  under  obligation  by 
the  service  rendered  to  him,  and  was  expected  in  equity 
to  repay  it.  But  this  notion  cannot  apply  to  the  Divine 


GOD   THE   PROVIDER.  199 

Being,  seeing  He  "  giveth  to  all  life,  and  breath,  and  all 
things  " — the  one  universal  benefactor.  No  one  has  any- 
thing which  God  has  not  given  him  j  and  the  highest  gift 
— life — conscious  being,  "  life  and  breath  " — life  and  that 
respiration  on  which  life  depends — are  from  Him ;  nay,  life 
and  all  things — all  that  makes  life  desirable  and  happy. 

He  giveth  "life,"  and  none  but  He,  the  Living  One. 
It  is  a  rill  from  the  Fountain  of  life.  Growth  and  other 
qualities  belong  to  plants,  such  as  circulation  of  sap 
and  respiration  by  their  leaves ;  but  life  characterizes 
man — with  its  voluntary  and  involuntary  functions,  its 
enjoyments  and  capabilities,  its  appetites  and  instincts, 
its  operations  on  the  world  without  it,  and  its  conscious 
possession  of  its  powers  within  it.  Pleasure,  glory,  and 
usefulness  are  bound  up  with  its  prolongation.  So  sweet  is 
it  that  few  choose  to  part  with  it,  and  the  cessation  of  it 
was  regarded  by  the  apostle's  hearers  as  the  direst  of  calami- 
ties. He  who  is  our  life  confers  and  supports  it  in  His 
ineffable  goodness — for  "man  liveth  not  by  bread  alone." 

He  giveth  "  breath,"  which,  as  the  condition  and  means 
of  life,  is,  therefore,  singled  out  by  the  apostle.  Even  then 
the  atmosphere  was  popularly  valued  as  the  first  of  neces- 
sary gifts,  and,  when  scientifically  examined,  its  preciousness 
is  not  only  confirmed,  but  it  becomes  a  powerful  proof 
of  divine  unceasing  goodness.  For  the  air  we  breathe 
is  endowed  with  many  qualities,  the  loss  or  disturbance 
of  which  must  be  fatal  to  life.  If  it  lose  its  gravity,  or 
if  its  elasticity  be  changed  or  become  changeable ;  if  it 
thicken,  and  darken,  and  cease  to  be  an  invisible  medium ; 
if  it  be  deprived  of  its  compressibility,  or  if  any  amount 


200  PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 

of  cold  could  condense  it ;  if  the  gases  composing  it  were 
to  vary  in  their  proportions ;  or  if  it  were  not  universally 
present,  and  what  is  vitiated  by  respiration  purified  and 
restored — animal  existence  would  be  extinguished  on  the 
face  of  the  earth. 

And  His  bounty  is  immense,  for  He  giveth  "  all  things." 
Whatever  we  have  He  has  given  us — the  food  on  our  table, 
and  the  raiment  on  our  persons,  with  ability  to  win  them 
and  health  to  enjoy  them.  Let  there  be  a  scanty  harvest, 
and,  when  corn  cannot  be  bought  with  money,  there  must  be 
famine ;  let  a  worm  gnaw  the  cotton  plant,  and  the  shadow 
of  death  would  be  cast  over  Britain — capital  useless,  gold 
without  circulation,  trades  unemployed,  machinery  without 
motion,  empty  warehouses,  ships  without  freights,  and 
millions  in  want  of  work  and  bread.  Nor  let  any  man 
boast  of  being  the  architect  of  his  own  fortune ;  for  the 
materials  out  of  which  he  builds  it,  the  skill  with  which 
he  constructs  it,  and  the  propitious  season  which  enables 
him  to  rear  it  without  pause  or  discomfiture — are  each  of 
them  the  gift  of  the  one  sovereign  benefactor.  Discovery, 
invention,  science,  art,  adventure,  commercial  shrewdness, 
literary  power,  mechanical  skill,  and  political  success  ;  the 
sharp  eye  that  is  first  to  perceive  the  "  tide  in  the  affairs 
of  men  j"  and  the  wary  enterprise  that  launches  the  vessel 
upon  it — are  not  self-originated.  "Every  good  gift  and 
every  perfect  gift  is  from  above,  and  cometh  down  from 
the  Father  of  Lights." 

Everything  possessed  by  everyone,  without  exception  of 
gift  or  person,  is  of  God's  bestowal.  God  is,  therefore,  inde- 
pendent of  man  for  His  happiness ;  it  wells  up  from  an 


SPIRITUAL   SERVICE.  201 

exhaustless  fountain  in  His  own  bosom.  Nor  is  He  in  need 
of  such  services  as  are  made  in  human  temples — neither 
the  blood  of  sacrifices  to  support,  nor  the  odour  of  incense 
to  refresh  Him.  For  He  is  the  one  Giver,  always  giving 
and  never  getting,  still  bestowing  and  never  repaid — there 
being  a  perpetual  outflow,  but  no  reflux.  If,  therefore, 
all  that  man  has  be  from  God,  and  all  he  proposes  to 
supply  his  divinities  with  be  from  the  same  source,  it  is 
plain  that  He  who  gives  it,  and  has  so  freely  parted  with 
it,  is  not  in  need  of  it.  The  wretched  anthropomorphism 
which  had  crept  in  among  the  Jews  is  thus  reproved  by 
the  psalmist — "  I  will  not  reprove  thee  for  thy  sacrifices, 
or  thy  burnt-offerings,  to  have  been  continually  before  me. 
I  will  take  no  bullock  out  of  thy  house,  nor  he-goats  out 
of  thy  folds :  for  every  beast  of  the  forest  is  mine,  and  the 
cattle  upon  a  thousand  hills.  I  know  all  the  fowls  of  the 
mountains ;  and  the  wild  beasts  of  the  field  are  mine.  If 
I  were  hungry,  I  would  not  tell  thee :  for  the  world  is 
mine,  and  the  fulness  thereof.  Will  I  eat  the  flesh  of 
bulls,  or  drink  the  blood  of  goats  ?  Offer  unto  God 
thanksgiving ;  and  pay  thy  vows  unto  the  most  High ; 
and  call  upon  me  in  the  day  of  trouble ;  I  will  deliver  thee, 
and  thou  shalt  glorify  me."  His  service  must  correspond 
to  His  nature,  and  must,  therefore,  be  spiritual  service. 
Those  who  are  so  liberally  provided  for  by  Him,  who  live 
by  His  bounty  and  breathe  His  air,  and  owe  all  things  to 
His  goodness,  will  surely  rejoice  to  bless  Him ;  and  when 
they  feel  that  they  have  no  claim  on  His  generosity,  and 
that  yet  it  is  so  unceasing,  will  they  not  invoke  their  souls 
and  all  within  them  "  to  bless  His  holy  name?"  "  Can  a 


202  PAUL   AT   ATHENS. 

man  be  profitable  to  God  as  he  that  is  wise  may  be  pro- 
fitable to  himself?"  "If  thou  be  righteous,  what  givest 
thou  Him,  or  what  receiveth  He  of  thine  hand?"  He  is 
not  worshipped  with  men's  hands,  but  with  men's  hearts. 
The  silent  hymn  of  a  grateful  spirit  rolls  upward  to  His 
ear,  though  no  music  should  be  warbled  from  the  lips. 
"  God  is  a  spirit,  and  they  that  worship  Him  must  wor- 
ship Him  in  spirit  and  in  truth."  When  Solomon  dedi- 
cated the  temple,  he  exclaimed  under  this  impression — 
"  But  will  God  in  very  deed  dwell  with  men  on  the  earth  ? 
Behold,  heaven,  and  the  heaven  of  heavens,  cannot  con- 
tain thee,  how  much  less  this  house  that  I  have  built ! " 
And,  in  his  address  before  the  council,  Stephen  had  said 
in  Paul's  hearing — "  Howbeit  the  Most  High  dwelleth 
not  in  temples  made  with  hands  •  as  saith  the  prophet, 
Heaven  is  my  throne,  and  earth  is  my  footstool;  what 
house  will  ye  build  me,  saith  the  Lord,  or  what  is  the 
place  of  my  rest?  hath  not  my  hand  made  all  these  things?" 


PAUL   AT   ATHENS.  203 


fart  tt 

Having  shown  them  the  divine  independence  and  self- 
sufficiency,  the  apostle  proceeds  to  assert  the  unity  of  the 
human  race — as  being  of  one  origin,  and — no  matter  how 
widely  they  may  have  been  scattered — as  being  guided  and 
controlled  by  the  one  God  in  their  migrations  and  settle- 
ments ;  their  history  being  but  the  record  of  His  dealings 
with  them,  and  His  regulation  of  their  movements.  He  adds 
— "  And  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men  for  to 
dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  hath  determined  the 
times  before  appointed,  and  the  bounds  of  their  habitation." 
All  the  nations  are  of  one  blood  or  race.  The  Athenians 
boasted  that  they  were  autochthones — self-produced,  or 
sprung  of  the  soil  of  Attica,  and  looked  with  contempt  on 
surrounding  barbarians.  But  all  had  a  common  origin, 
and  none  could  vaunt  themselves  over  their  neighbours. 
The  Greek  with  that  lofty  brow — "  the  dome  of  thought '' 
— who  lived  on  the  idea  of  beauty,  with  whom  the  arts 
had  found  a  home,  and  who  had  a  history  so  grand  from 
the  days  of  Solon,  was  a  brother  of  the  rude  Scythian 
with  the  low  forehead  and  stolid  visage,  who  wore  a  coarse 
vesture  of  sheepskin,  and  was  as  ignorant  in  soul  as 
degraded  in  life.  For  God  "hath  made — caused — all 
nations  for  to  dwell — settle — on  all  the  face  of  the  earth." 
Whatever  advantage  any  nation  has  in  the  country 
occupied  by  it,  is  due  to  God.  It  fills  the  realm  which 


204  PAUL   AT   ATHENS. 

God  designed  for  it.  Attica  had  not  been  chosen  by 
the  people  on  account  of  its  superior  qualities,  but  God 
chose  it  for  them.  It  was  not  Hercules,  Cecrops,  Pelops, 
Theseus,  or  any  other  ancient  mythical  leader,  that  had 
selected  Greece,  but  God  had  made  the  region,  and  made 
their  forefathers  to  migrate  into  it.  Bceotia,  Sparta, 
Sicily,  and  Ionia,  with  many  cities  in  which  they  had 
contended,  were  sprung  of  the  same  stock  as  themselves. 
And  he  who  was  now  bespeaking  their  attention,  whose 
dark  eye  and  aquiline  features  showed  him  to  be  of  a 
race  which  they  despised,  and  whose  annals  they  could 
not  appreciate,  stood,  in  point  of  lineage,  on  the  same  level 
with  themselves. 

Polytheism  is  bound  up  with  the  notion  of  distinct  and 
different  races.  But  if  all  nations  be  alike  in  bodily  struc- 
ture, and  one  blood  be  in  all  their  veins,  and  they  possess  the 
same  range  of  instinct  and  appetites,  their  oneness  of  origin 
is  demonstrated.  That  man,  no  matter  what  his  colour,  or 
stature,  or  home,  is  but  one  species  with  many  varieties,  is 
a  truth  proved  by  ethnology,  and  confirmed  by  the  results 
of  comparative  philology.  Among  the  lower  creation,  the 
skull  of  the  mastiff  differs  more  from  that  of  the  Italian 
greyhound,  than  the  skull  of  the  European  from  the  central 
African  or  the  Hottentot,  and  dogs  and  horses  carried  to 
the  hills  in  India  lose  their  hair  and  become  woolly,  like  the 
shawl-goats  of  the  country.  Complexion  and  features  are 
soon  altered  by  climate  and  physical  condition.  The  third 
generation  of  educated  and  well-fed  negroes  loses  the  prog- 
nathous type,  while  filth  and  famine  are  known  to  reduce 
white  victims  to  a  dull  and  meaningless  cast  of  countenance. 


THE   NATIONS   OF   ONE   ORIGIN.  205 

He  that  made  the  world  and  all  things  therein,  is,  therefore, 
God  of  all  the  nations.  It  is  a  fiction  for  them  to  have 
separate  gods,  as  if  each  tribe  had  sprung  from  a  different 
deity,  and  owed  him  homage  as  lord  and  guardian.  The 
nations  are  all  brethren,  created  by  the  one  Divine  Being — 
"  Have  we  not  all  one  Father;  hath  not  one  God  created  us?" 
It  was  imagined,  too,  that  the  various  gods  had  separate 
and  independent  territories,  beyond  which  their  jurisdiction 
did  not  go,  and  which  they  were  often  obliged  to  defend 
against  invasion.  In  the  Homeric  songs  they  espouse 
rival  interests,  and  cabal  and  quarrel  in  petty  jealousy 
and  revenge.  Juno  will  have  her  way  for  her  favourites, 
Venus  will  not  desert  hers,  Apollo  sends  a  plague  upon 
the  Greeks  because  his  priest  is  insulted,  while  Jupiter 
is  at  his  wit's  end  amid  the  strifes  and  antipathies  of 
Olympus.  Nay,  Minerva  (Athene')  had  contended  for  the 
possession  of  Athens  with  Neptune,  he  appealing  to  a  well 
which  had  sprung  up  at  the  stroke  of  his  trident,  and  she 
to  an  olive  which  the  king  had  seen  her  plant  on  the 
summit  of  the  Acropolis.  The  deities  of  Greece  were 
powerless  in  Italy,  and  had  neither  name  nor  residence  in 
Persia.  Every  race  had  its  mythology,  and  would  fight  for 
its  idols  as  readily  as  for  its  acres,  so  that  a  war  between 
two  nations  was  usually  a  war  between  their  gods,  as  well 
as  between  their  soldiers.  But  the  apostle  tells  them  that 
the  nations,  no  matter  how  distant  in  settlement,  unlike 
in  colour,  civilization,  or  worship,  descend  from  a  common 
ancestry,  and  have  a  common  origin  in  God.  All  the 
power  and  sovereignty  which  they  assigned  to  numerous 
local  divinities  was,  therefore,  to  be  concentrated  in  one 


206  PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 

great  Being — the  Maker  of  the  world,  and  the  Lord  of 
heaven  and  earth. 

And  this  one  Being  also  "hath  determined  the  times 
before  appointed,  and  the  bounds  of  their  habitations." 
This  doctrine  was  also  taught  by  Moses — "  When  the 
most  High  divided  to  the  nations  their  inheritance,  when 
he  separated  the  sons  of  Adam,  he  set  the  bounds  of 
the  people  according  to  the  number  of  the  children 
of  Israel."  The  periods  of  their  existence  have  been 
defined,  and  its  limits  mapped  out  by  God.  By  the 
periods  he  means  not  simply  their  national  duration,  but 
also  the  crises  or  turning-points  in  their  national  experi- 
ence. And  they  had  many  of  them  in  their  own  history. 
Not  to  speak  of  such  epochs  as  the  return  of  the  Heracleids, 
the  religious  mission  of  Epimenides,  the  deeds  of  the 
Alcmaeonids,  the  despotism  of  Pisistratus,  or  the  usurpa- 
tion of  the  thirty  tyrants,  there  had  been  the  battle  of 
Marathon,  when  Asiatic  invasion  was  repelled  by  a  gallant 
handful,  and,  ten  years  after,  the  victorious  naval  action  at 
Salamis — both  of  them  hairs-breadth  escapes  for  Athens, 
and  both  securing  against  loss  of  liberty  and  degradation 
into  a  Persian  satrapy.  These  momentous  junctures  were 
the  fore-appointment  of  an  unrecognized  Protector,  who 
settles  the  limits  of  nations ;  for  there  is  a  boundary  which 
they  can  not  pass,  no  matter  what  their  ambition,  and 
what  the  success  of  their  arms.  Their  own  defeats,  and 
the  ostracism  of  so  many  of  their  leaders,  had  shown  this. 
Miltiades  the  patriot  of  Marathon,  and  Themistocles  the 
hero  of  Salamis,  had  been  sent  into  exile  for  misadventures 
by  which  the  ambitious  projects  of  Greece  were  limited, 


HISTORICAL   CRISES.  207 

and  similar  had  been  the  fate  of  Cimon  and  Alcibiades. 
Beyond  certain  termini  Athens  could  not,  with  all  her 
skill  and  valour,  carry  her  arms ;  an  unseen  arm  defined 
her  bounds,  and  kept  her  within  them.  Minerva  could  not 
protect :  Xerxes  had  burned  her  dwelling,  and  her  spear 
and  shield  had  neither  repelled  Philip  from  the  north,  nor 
beaten  back  the  Koman  warriors  from  the  west.  She  stood 
immovable  on  that  rock,  defenceless  against  the  invader. 
The  sudden  death  of  Alexander  broke  into  four  principalities 
the  huge  empire  which  he  contemplated.  But  the  divine 
providence  is  all-embracing,  and  all  history  proclaims  it. 
The  battle  of  Zama  relieved  Italy  and  civilization  from  all 
fears  of  Carthage.  The  Saracen  power  was  thrown  out  of 
central  Europe  at  a  very  critical  period,  and  the  tide  of 
Turkish  fanaticism  was  finally  checked  under  the  walls  of 
Vienna.  He  blew  with  His  winds  and  dispersed  the 
Spanish  armada.  Borodino,  Leipzig,  Trafalgar,  and 
Waterloo  set  bounds  to  France  in  recent  times,  and  Blen- 
heim and  Ramillies  in  days  gone  by.  Bunker's-hill 
put  an  end  to  British  supremacy  in  the  older  American 
colonies.  The  fall  of  Sebastopol  has  retarded  the  southern 
march  of  Russia  for  a  season.  The  congress  of  Vienna 
appointed  bounds  to  the  nations  on  selfish  and  political 
principles,  but  how  long  shall  they  last,  and  how  soon  may 
the  map  of  Europe  need  to  be  remodelled  ?  "  God  is  the 
judge;  He  putteth  down  one  and  setteth  up  another." 
"  He  ruleth  according  to  His  will  in  the  army  of  heaven 
and  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth;  and  none  can 
stay  His  hand,  or  say  unto  him,  What  doest  Thou?" 
And  the  moral  purpose  of  God  in  the  allocation  and 


208  PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 

government  of  the  different  nations  was  a  special  one— 
"  That  they  should  seek  the  Lord,  if  haply  they  might  feel 
after  him,  and  find  Him,  though  he  be  not  far  from  every 
one  of  us."  To  seek  Him,  is  to  acknowledge  and  worship 
Him,  to  feel  after  is  to  grope,  as  if  in  darkness,  in  the  dim 
light  of  the  gentile  world,  as  he  admits,  but  the  last  clause 
shows  that  the  search  after  Him  might  not  have  been  in 
vain.  He  was  still  within  reach  of  discovery.  There  were 
revelations,  not,  indeed,  in  clearness  and  expressness  like 
those  given  to  the  Jews,  but  still  sufficient  to  have  kept 
the  nations  from  atheism,  polytheism,  and  idolatry.  The 
human  race  have  been  formed  into  nations,  not  to  set  up 
exclusive  national  divinities,  but  that  they  should  know  and 
adore  the  Lord — or  God,  as  perhaps  is  the  better  text.  The 
finding  of  God  should  have  been  their  chief  concern ;  the 
acknowledgment  and  worship  of  Him  the  business  of  their 
lives.  It  might  require  anxiety  and  study — there  might 
be  doubts  to  be  overcome  and  difficulties  to  be  removed — 
but  what  intimations  they  had  they  should  have  followed, 
and  what  surmises  rose  within  them  they  should  have 
diligently  pursued.  They  might  occasionally  blunder,  but 
they  should  not  have  abandoned  the  inquiry.  He  that 
gropes  may  stumble,  but  he  is  not  to  desist;  he  may 
weary  himself,  but  still  he  should  cast  about  for  the  object 
of  his  search.  For  God  was  near  to  everyone,  and  there- 
fore his  duty  was  not  so  hard  as  the  investigation  of  some 
theorem,  hopeless  from  its  darkness  and  the  distance  of  its 
conclusion  from  the  first  step  of  its  demonstration.  God 
was  near  them;  their  eyes  saw  the  stately  steps  of  His 
majesty,  and  their  ears  heard  the  melody  of  His  choirs. 


GOD   IN   ALL   THINGS.  209 

God's  great  object,  as  he  has  thus  shown,  in  organiz- 
ing nations,  in  giving  them  duration,  and  in  raising  a 
mountain  here  and  opening  a  channel  there  as  their  boun- 
daries, is  that  Himself  may  be  discovered  and  served. 
Nations  forget  this,  and  think  of  national  greatness — armies, 
literature,  commerce,  colonies,  and  government.  Maho- 
metan tribes  have  at  least  the  "  form  of  godliness,"  as  they 
begin  their  public  documents  with  the  word  "Bismillah" — 
In  the  name  of  God.  There  is  nothing,  however,  which  a 
nation  may  legitimately  covet  that  is  incompatible  with  the 
homage  due  to  God.  For,  what  is  science  but  the  discovery 
of  those  laws  which  He  has  in  His  wisdom  established  ? 
What  is  art  but  the  embodiment  of  those  ideas  of  beaut}', 
symmetry,  and  power,  which  He  has  implanted  in  the 
soul?  What  is  legislation  but  the  human  expression  of 
His  equity  and  benignity,  which  should  reign  supreme 
through  all  ranks  and  in  all  the  occupations  of  society? 
What  is  commerce  but  the  necessary  interchange  of  the 
results  of  that  labour  which  He  enables  men  to  perform  ? 
What  is  agriculture  but  the  application  of  chemical  skill 
to  the  agencies  of  the  soil? — the  skill  that  He  imparts  to 
the  agencies  which  He  has  arranged  and  perpetuated  ;  "  for 
His  God  doth  instruct  the  husbandman  to  discretion,  and 
doth  teach  him."  And  what  are  manufactures  but  man's 
cunning  manipulations  of  those  products  which  He  so 
bountifully  provides  from  His  sun  and  rain,  and  his  versa- 
tile adaptation  of  them  to  his  physical  wants  ?  God  may 
be  felt  and  adored  in  all,  and  ought  to  be  felt  and  adored 
in  all. 

And  why  do  nations  cease  to  be,  and  why  are  their  bounds 

0 


210  PAUL   AT   ATHENS. 

invaded  and  broken  down  ?  Simply  because  they  do  not 
own  or  follow  out  this  divine  purpose.  They  deify  them- 
selves, and  forget  Him  who  is  above  them — live  but  for 
themselves,  and  "feel  after"  aggrandisement,  and  not  after 
Him.  The  Canaanites  were  ripe  for  expulsion  on  the 
invasion  of  Joshua,  and  so  were  the  Jews  themselves  before 
the  Roman  Titus.  The  liberties  of  Greece  had  been 
struck  down  on  the  fatal  field  of  Chaeronea,  and  many  a 
nation  has  been  dispossessed  of  its4  soil.  No  people  have 
an  irrevocable  charter  to  it ;  they  possess  it  only  so  long 
as  they  are  worthy  of  it,  and  act  in  harmony  with  Him 
who  planted  them  in  it.  And  they  are  displaced  that  the 
new  occupant  may  be  put  upon  its  trial,  too.  In  this 
light  may  be  viewed  those  conquests  which  are  estab- 
lishing modern  colonies — the  conqueror  in  turn  is  judged, 
and  will,  if  God  decrees  it,  be  in  turn  exiled.  The 
Anglo-Saxon  has  driven  back  the  Celt  to  the  verge  of  the 
Atlantic,  but  the  Sclave  may  be  commissioned  to  exercise 
the  same  force  upon  the  Anglo-Saxon  if  he  do  not  service 
as  God's  tenant  of  His  lands.  And  thus  God  shall  be  for 
Britain,  so  long  as  Britain  is  for  God. 

"  He  is  not  far  from  every  one  of  us,"  says  the  orator; 
"  for  in  Him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being." 
There  seems  to  be  neither  climax  nor  anticlimax  in  the 
expression.  But  our  existence  is  viewed  on  all  sides — life 
and  motion  are  in  Him — as  their  sphere ;  in  Him  we  live, 
and  move,  and  are — continue  to  be.  This  statement  gives 
no  countenance  to  that  mysticism  which  holds  that  every 
thought  and  act  is  not  ours,  but  God's  ;  thus  destroying 
moral  freedom  and  responsibility.  But  His  existence 


THE   ONE   DIVINE  FATHEE.  211 

includes  ours.  As  we  are  and  walk  in  the  atmosphere, 
so  really  are  we  in  God,  and  in  Him  we  live  and  move. 
Every  pulsation  of  our  hearts  depends  on  His  sovereign 
beneficence.  The  nerves  have  no  sensibility,  the  muscles 
no  motion,  the  eye  no  vision,  the  blood  no  circulation,  the 
tongue  no  voice,  and  the  brain  no  energy  but  from  Him  and 
in  Him.  Let  a  single  organ  be  deranged,  and  death  may 
follow ;  let  some  cerebral  atoms  be  disturbed,  and  reason  is 
destroyed.  If  "in  Him  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our 
being,"  then  surely  He  is  not  far  from  us.  We  touch  Him 
on  all  sides  of  us,  and  at  every  moment.  Men  need  not 
feel  far  or  long  after  Him;  for  He  envelopes  them  with 
continuous  pressure.  Nay,  they  sustain  a  close  relation- 
ship to  Him — such  a  relationship  as  should  impress  them 
with  His  nearness  and  glory — 

For  the  apostle  adds — "As  certain  also  of  your  own 
poets  have  said,  For  we  are  also  his  offspring."  The  word 
"  for"  is  a  portion  of  the  quotation,  which  belongs  to  more 
poets  than  one,  showing  that  the  doctrine  was  not  unknown 
to  the  Grecian  mind ;  and  to  this  fact  he  gives  prominence 
— "  certain  poets  of  your  own."  The  sentiment  occurs  in 
two  of  them,  especially  in  Aratus  of  Cilicia  and  in  Cle- 
anthes  the  Stoic.  The  first,  a  countryman  of  Paul's,  in  his 
"Phenomena" — an  astronomical  poem,  extolled  by  Ovid 
and  translated  into  Latin  by  Cicero — says — 

"  From  Jove  begin  we,  whom  we  should  never  leave 
Uncelebrated.     Of  Jove  the  public  walks  are  full, 
And  all  the  councils  of  men ;  the  sea  is  full  of  him, 
And  the  shore.     All  that  we  always  enjoy  is  from  Jove ; 
For  we  are  also  his  offspring ; " 

this  last  clause  being  the  apostle's  quotation,  and  forming 


212  PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 

half  a  hexameter.  The  commencement  of  the  famous 
hymn  of  Cleanthes  to  Jupiter  may  be  thus  rendered — 

"  Great  Jove,  most  glorious  of  the  immortal  gods, 
Worshipped  by  many  names,  always  almighty, 
Author  of  nature,  governing  by  law  the  universe — 
Hail ;  for  mortals  all  may  lift  their  voice  to  thee, 
For  we  thine  offspring  are." 

Both  these  poems  acknowledge  the  apostle's  doctrine — that 
man  springs  from  no  idol,  but  from  a  superior  power  often 
felt  by  the  bards,  if  not  excogitated  by  the  philosophers 
— perceived  by  the  soul,  if  not  always  admitted  by  the 
intellect.  There  had  been,  as  was  proved  by  the  dedication 
of  an  altar  to  an  unknown  god,  a  belief  with  thoughtful 
men  that  there  was  some  Essence  or  Power  higher  than  all 
collected  in  the  Pantheon — a  conviction  which  originated 
such  a  sentiment  as  that  quoted  by  the  apostle.  The 
Hebrew  stranger  was  not  ignorant  of  their  literature,  and 
could  apply  it  to  his  purpose.  Indeed,  he  was  speaking 
their  current  tongue,  though  it  was  not,  in  many  respects, 
that  of  their  famous  fathers. 

The  lesson  is — that  men  are  God's  offspring — not  His 
creation  simply,  but  His  offspring.  The  argument  turns  on 
this  idea — the  Fatherhood  of  God.  Men  are  His  offspring 
— His  children  possessing  the  paternal  likeness.  Sheep 
and  oxen,  the  nightingale  that  warbled  among  the  olives 
by  the  Ilissus,  and  the  bees  that  ranged  among  the  flowers 
on  Mount  Hymettus,  were  God's  creatures,  but  not  His 
offspring.  This  is  in  fact  the  doctrine  of  the  genealogy  in 
Luke,  that  Adam  was  "  the  son  of  God ; "  the  doctrine  of 
the  earliest  record,  that  "God  created  man  in  His  own 


GOD'S  IMAGE   IN   MAN.  213 

image— in  the  image  of  God  created  He  him."  Many 
features  of  that  image  have  not  been  deleted.  Holiness 
has  been  obliterated,  and  happiness  has  gone  with  it.  But 
man  yet  preserves  his  capability  of  regaining  this  departed 
purity  and  felicity.  And  he  still  possesses  his  manhood 
though  he  is  under  sentence  of  death;  still  enjoys  his 
erect  mien,  nor  have  reason  and  immortality  been  penally 
wrested  from  him.  What  belongs  to  his  constitution 
he  retains ;  what  belongs  to  his  character  has  been  lost. 
Still  has  he  those  mental  powers  which  fit  him  for 
speculation — for  the  attainment  and  application  of  know- 
ledge. Conscious  of  his  being,  he  can  feel  impressions 
from  without,  and  perceive  their  cause ;  can  think,  and 
recall  what  he  has  seen,  heard,  or  known,  and  can  perform 
acts  of  mental  abstraction  and  generalization.  He  can 
classify  and  decide,  and  can  imagine  and  follow  out  long 
trains  of  thought  and  imagery  under  the  influence  of  associ- 
ation. Nay,  he  can  not  only  take  cognizance  of  relations 
and  differences,  but  ascend  to  ultimate  and  universal  truths ; 
and  he  is  crowned  with  the  gift  of  language  through  which 
his  ideas  and  convictions  are  correctly  expressed  and  con- 
veyed. His  heart  can  be  stirred  to  emotion — to  love  or 
hatred,  to  joy  or  grief,  to  anger  or  gratitude,  to  fear  what 
is  to  come  or  to  hope  for  it,  according  to  its  character.  And 
he  is  endowed  with  conscience — a  witness  and  judge  of  his 
actions — God's  vicegerent  within  him — while  he  is  sensible 
of  his  moral  freedom,  that  he  is  no  series  of  sensational 
phenomena,  no  victim  of  impressions  which  he  cannot 
control,  or  of  mechanical  laws  which  bind  him  in  links  of 
stern  necessity. 


214  PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 

These  are  features  of  God's  image  borne  by  His  offspring 
— intelligence,  liberty,  personality,  and  conscience.  Man, 
therefore,  stands  in  a  nearer  and  more  tender  relation  to 
God  than  any  other  creature  on  earth — being  to  some 
extent  still  a  shechinah — the  Divinity  resident  within 
him.  His  life  is  sacred,  because  he  bears  the  image  of 
God.  Mind  in  some  sense  belongs  to  the  lower  creation ; 
but  reason  is  not  theirs,  nor  conscience,  nor  that  higher 
spiritual  nature  by  which  man  approaches  and  resembles 
God,  and  God  by  His  Spirit  works  upon  man.  Look 
at  that  horse,  he  is  strong,  and  "paweth  in  the  valley," 
but  he  cannot  rise  in  idea  beyond  his  rider  and  his  groom. 
"  The  ox  knoweth  his  owner,"  and  forms  no  higher  con- 
ception ;  "  and  the  ass  his  master's  crib,"  with  no  appre- 
hension of  a  world  beyond. 

"  The  lamb  thy  riot  dooms  to  bleed  to-day, 
Had  he  thy  reason,  would  he  skip  and  play  ? 
Pleased  to  the  last  he  crops  the  flowery  food, 
And  licks  the  hand  just  raised  to  shed  his  blood." 

Is  it  not  godlike  on  the  part  of  man  to  be  lord  of  the 
lower  creation,  a  divine  representative  to  them?  Is  it 
not  godlike  for  "the  spirit  of  man"  to  know  "the  things 
of  a  man,"  even  as  "  the  Spirit  of  God  knoweth  the  things 
of  God?"  Is  it  not  godlike  to  be  able  to  say  as  God  says 
— "  I  know  all  the  fowls  of  the  mountains  ?"  Is  it  not  god- 
like to  be  able  to  do  as  God  does,  to  "  tell  the  number  of 
the  stars  and  call  them  all  by  their  names  ?"  to  adapt  nature 
for  every  purpose,  even  for  the  instantaneous  transmission  of 
thought?  Is  it  not  godlike  for  him,  by  his  faculty  of  inven- 
tion, to  imitate  God's  power  of  creation  ?  Is  it  not  godlike 


POLYTHEISM — ATHEISM.  215 

for  him  to  have  all  things  subservient  to  him,  for  he  is  an 
end  to  himself,  at  the  same  time  as  the  means  of  glorifying 
his  Creator  ?  Certain  of  their  own  poets  had  said — "  For 
we  are  also  His  offspring ;"  and  one  of  their  own  philoso- 
phers had  said — "On  earth  there  is  nothing  great  but 
man,  in  man  there  is  nothing  great  but  mind."  So  true  it 
is,  that  even  in  fallen  humanity,  the  divine  image  is  still  to 
be  found — a  protest  against  idolatry. 

And  man,  as  God's  offspring,  feels  an  instinctive  impulse 
to  recognize  his  Divine  Father ;  has  the  means  of  know- 
ing Him,  of  understanding  this  filial  relationship,  and 
profiting  by  it.  The  child  calls  for  help  when  in  danger, 
and  presents  its  thanks  when  relief  has  been  vouchsafed. 
It  seeks  to  know  the  Divine  will,  as  did  the  Greeks  at 
Delphi ;  it  is  conscious  of  having  offended,  and  devotes  a 
victim.  It  hopes  for  some  home  nearer  the  Father  when 
it  leaves  the  world — some  Elysian  field,  such  as  many  could 
picture  whom  the  apostle  addressed.  Idolatry  is  a  confes- 
sion of  man's  need  that  he  must  know  his  Father ;  the 
heart  cannot  be  at  rest  without  some  deity  to  look  up  to 
and  adore,  to  trust  in  and  to  obey.  Polytheism  may  be 
irrational,  but  atheism  is  unnatural.  To  say  that  there  are 
many  gods  is  folly,  but  to  say  that  there  is  no  God  is 
treason  against  man's  own  constitution,  "  for  we  are  also 
His  offspring  " — not  products  simply,  but  children,  formed, 
fed,  and  clothed ;  mentally  and  morally  endowed  by  Him 
whose  image  we  bear,  though  its  brightness  has  been 
darkened  by  sin.  What  a  blessed  doctrine,  then,  that  we 
are  the  divine  offspring  —  children  of  one  father.  How 
high  our  dignity!  how  rich  our  patrimony!  Wherever 


216  PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 

we  are,  in  whatever  portion  of  His  universe,  we  are  still 
in  His  house — our  home.  We  can  never  outstep  our  heri- 
tage. The  Father  has  fitted  nature  not  merely  to  supply 
our  wants,  but  also  to  minister  to  our  delight — the  glitter 
of  the  star  and  of  the  dew-drop,  the  colour  and  scent  of 
the  flower,  freshness  and  beauty  for  the  eye,  and  song  and 
melody  for  the  ear.  Our  Father's  house  is  not  barely 
furnished,  but  richly  ornamented.  Rocks  are  piled  into 
hoary  mountains  and  picturesque  heights ;  the  woods  are 
budding  forth  into  life  in  spring,  laden  with  foliage  in 
summer,  or  swinging  their  great  boughs  to  the  tempest  of 
winter  ,*  the  sky  folds  its  curtains  and  trims  its  lamps  ;  the 
waters  dance  in  torrents  and  leap  in  cascades,  as  well  as 
fill  the  seas ;  there  is  gold  as  well  as  iron,  gems  as  well  as 
granites,  the  blush  and  fragrance  of  the  blossom,  as  well 
as  the  sweetness  and  abundance  of  the  fruit.  The  human 
frame,  too,  has  symmetry  as  well  as  strength — possesses 
far  more  than  is  merely  essential  to  life  and  work ;  the  eye, 
lip,  and  brow  are  rich  in  expression  and  power.  There  is 
not  only  the  power  of  thought  essential  to  business  and 
religion,  but  there  is  the  garniture  of  imagination,  poetry 
as  well  as  science,  music  in  addition  to  speech,  ode  and 
oracle  as  well  as  fact  and  doctrine  in  scripture,  the  lyre  of  the 
bard  no  less  than  the  pen  of  the  apostle.  Above  sensation 
there  rises  the  power  of  discovery — invention  blends  with 
experience.  In  marl  and  around  him  there  is  not  mere 
provision  for  necessities ;  there  are  profuse  luxuries. 
"His  offspring"  walk  in  the  lustre  of  His  love.  It  rejoices 
them  to  know  that  the  power  which  governs  is  no  dark 
phantom  veiled  in  mystery ;  no  majestic  and  all-controlling 


FOLLY   OF   IDOLATRY.  217 

force — a  mighty  and  shadowless  sceptre ;  no  mere  omni- 
science— an  eye  that  never  slumbers;  no  dim  Spirit,  having 
its  only  consciousness  in  the  consciousness  of  man — but  a 
Father  with  a  father's  heart  to  love  us,  and  to  the  yearn- 
ings of  which  we  may  ever  appeal — a  father's  ear  to  listen 
to  us,  and  a  father's  hand  to  bless  with  kind  and  continued 
benefactions.  And,  as  we  have  wandered,  shall  not  each 
of  us  say — "  I  will  arise  and  go  unto  my  Father?"  Will 
not  He  accept  the  returning  child,  giving  us  the  adoption 
of  sons,  revealing  Himself  graciously  through  Christ  the 
Elder  Brother  who  leads  us  to  cry  in  true  filial  devotion — 
"  Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven?" 

In  the  next  verse  the  apostle  states  his  inference — 
"Forasmuch  then  as  we  are  the  offspring  of  God,  we 
ought  not  to  think  that  the  Godhead  is  like  unto  gold,  or 
silver,  or  stone,  graven  by  art  and  man's  device."  At 
that  moment  the  speaker  stood  in  view  of  such  idols  and 
sculptures.  Art  had  reached  its  perfection ;  device  had 
exhausted  itself  in  forms  of  sublimity  and  beauty.  The 
market-place  was  thronged  with  the  statues  of  the  gods. 
The  Acropolis  before  him  had  three  statues  of  the  great 
goddess,  one  of  them  the  original  image,  which,  like  that  of 
Diana  at  Ephesus,  was  believed  to  have  fallen  from  Jupiter ; 
another  of  them,  in  the  shrine  of  the  Parthenon,  made 
of  ivory  and  gold,  the  masterpiece  of  Phidias;  and  the 
third,  the  colossal  image  of  the  same  divinity,  towering  in 
front  of  him,  armed,  and  on  guard — the  top  of  whose  spear 
might  be  seen  by  the  mariner  crossing  the  Saronic  gulf. 
He  was  in  the  midst  of  a  crowd  of  metal  and  marble  deities, 
the  like  of  which  for  symmetry  and  stateliness,  for  loveli- 


218  PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 

ness  and  majesty,  no  other  nation  had  ever  produced.  But 
he  does  not  denounce  them  and  endanger  himself;  he 
appeals  to  his  hearers,  and  presents  an  argument  which 
their  acute  spirit  could  scarcely  fail  to  appreciate.  The 
neuter  term  rendered  "  Godhead,"  signifies  the  divine 
nature  or  essence ;  graven  by  art  and  man's  device — means, 
"  sculpture  of  the  art  and  ingenuity  of  man." 

The  argument,  then,  is — being  the  offspring  of  God, 
we  ought  not  to  think  that  the  Divine  nature  can  ever 
be  imaged  in  metal  or  stone,  no  matter  what  skill  and 
art  may  be  employed  in  the  sculpture.  Our  filial  relation 
to  God  should  teach  us  this.  It  is  a  spiritual  relation, 
and  should  convince  us  of  the  spirituality  of  the  God- 
head. We  cannot  image  ourselves,  far  less  God.  What 
is  spiritual  in  us,  what  makes  us  the  offspring  of  God, 
can  neither  be  pencilled  on  canvas,  or  be  carved  by  the 
chisel.  The  portrait,  or  the  statue  which  flows  from  the 
furnace  are  not  we,  they  are  only  an  effigy  of  us,  or  rather 
only  of  our  external  appearance.  Vital  action,  mental 
power,  and  spiritual  susceptibility,  cannot  be  so  depicted. 
True  a  statue  may  be  made,  and  it  may  resemble  a  man  in 
form,  attitude,  and  drapery.  The  likeness  may  be  so  vivid 
as  to  startle  you ;  and  as  you  gaze  you  almost  expect  it  to 
move  and  speak.  But  it  is  chill  and  changeless — a  lump  of 
immobility — not  even  representing  fully  the  shell  or  corporeal 
tabernacle  of  man.  For  much  in  it  is  beyond  the  reach  of 
such  vulgar  delineation — the  nerves  conveying  sensations 
and  transmitting  volitions;  the  lungs  at  work  in  their 
chemical  laboratory;  the  heart  in  its  dilatations,  contrac- 
tions, and  propulsion  of  the  vital  fluid ;  the  blood  in  its  rapid 


INABILITY   OF   MAN   TO   IMAGE   HIMSELF.  219 

arterial  and  venous  courses,  depositing  tissues  and  clear- 
ing itself  from  impurities ;  the  swelling  and  straining  of 
the  muscles  and  tendons;  the  motions  and  secretions  of 
the  joints ;  the  secret  functions  of  the  skin  ;  the  optical 
wonders  of  the  eye ;  the  acoustic  chambers  of  the  ear ;  and 
the  mighty  and  mysterious  action  of  the  brain — that  com- 
plex process,  in  short,  which  we  call  life.  Man's  art  and 
device  cannot  reproduce  his  living  self  in  gold,  silver,  or 
stone. 

Still  more  as  those  organs  are  his,  but  not  he,  therefore 
what  he  really  is — his  reason,  soul,  conscience,  genius,  and 
immortality — defy  all  representation.  No  power  can  shape 
them,  Zeuxis  could  not  paint  them ;  Praxiteles  could  not 
figure  them;  gold,  silver,  and  stone  cannot  body  them 
forth.  The  apostle's  thought  then  is — If  as  the  offspring 
of  one  God,  we  cannot  produce  any  likeness  of  ourselves, 
containing  this  relationship  to  Him,  how  can  we  imagine 
that  we  can  produce  any  likeness  of  Him,  containing  His 
relationship  to  us.  Spirituality  is  lost  by  being  shadowed 
out  to  sense.  How  shall  we  depict  His  infinitude  or  omni- 
potence, His  omniscience,  His  goodness  and  truth,  or  any  of 
those  qualities  which  have  the  reflection  of  themselves 
within  us,  and  our  possession  of  which  proves  us  His 
offspring  ?  If  you  cannot  picture  out  the  godlike  in  man, 
why  attempt  to  picture  out  God  Himself?  If  the  image 
defy  you  to  grasp  and  embody  it,  why  dare  to  make  trial 
upon  the  original  ?  Idolatry  is  therefore  false  as  well  as 
foolish;  his  own  likeness,  far  less  the  likeness  of  his  Father, 
man  cannot  fabricate.  Give  the  artist  precious  gold  and 
silver,  so  ductile  to  his  hand,  and  so  brilliant  in  the  polish 


220  PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 

which  they  take  from  it ;  or  give  him  the  pure  and  veinless 
marble  of  Pentelicus,  out  of  which  he  can  produce  a  shape 
so  exquisite  in  limb  and  feature,  and  what  is  the  result? 
The  so-called  likeness  is  only  that  of  the  outer  form  of  a 
bold  and  graceful  man,  or  a  beautiful  and  lovely  woman. 
The  statues  of  their  gods  were  quite  the  same  as  those  of 
their  heroes,  sages,  and  orators,  with  the  exception  of  some 
symbol — painted  thunder  or  a  crown  of  glory.  The 
uninitiated  eye  could  not  tell  the  one  from  the  other — the 
man  from  the  god.  Man's  own  dignity  is  a  living  argu- 
ment against  idolatry  and  polytheism.  How  absurd  in 
him,  therefore,  so  to  limit  and  degrade  his  object  of  wor- 
ship. 

According  to  this  report  of  his  address,  the  apostle  did 
not  pursue  farther  his  exposure  of  idolatry.  He  left  his 
hearers  to  their  own  reflections — to  follow  out  the  lessons 
which  their  own  poets  had  suggested.  By  knowing  what 
they  were  themselves,  they  would  come  to  know  what 
God  was.  One,  indeed,  dares  not  gaze  upwards  on  the 
sun  as  he  pours  out  his  burning  radiance,  but  he  may 
contemplate  his  image  in  the  lake  or  river  at  his  feet. 
Men  may  not  pierce  to  the  uncreated  splendour,  but  they 
may  see  God  in  themselves — the  likeness  of  the  Father  in 
His  child.  While  we  cannot  believe  with  some  modern 
philosophers  that  the  physical  creation  is  unable  to  prove  to 
us  the  existence  of  God ;  while  we  differ  from  that  notion 
of  cause  which  those  thinkers  maintain,  and  believe  it  to  be 
a  reality,  and  not  merely  a  logical  form  of  thought — still 
we  hold  that  man's  mental  and  moral  constitution  presents 
the  highest  and  fullest  argument  for  the  existence,  per- 


NATURAL  THEOLOGY.  221 

sonality,  and  character  of  the  Supreme.  Man  knows  God 
because  he  knows  himself,  or  perceives  the  image  of  the 
All-Father  within  him.  The  revelations  which  God  has 
made  in  scripture,  he  is  enabled  to  understand  in  the 
same  way,  or  with  the  same  intuitional  assistance.  The 
terms  employed  to  represent  the  character  and  attributes 
of  God,  I  can  understand  only  as  they  are  descriptive  of 
properties  or  processes  in  myself.  If  I  am  told  that  God 
possesses  knowledge,  I  gather  the  meaning  of  the  state- 
ment by  a  reference  to  my  own  mind  and  its  information. 
Or,  if  I  am  told  that  God  loves  or  hates,  then,  knowing 
what  these  emotions  are  within  myself,  I  instinctively 
ascribe  them  to  Him  in  infinite  purity  and  degree. 


222  PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 


|nt  HI. 

Changing  his  theme,  the  apostle  advances — "And  the 
times  of  this  ignorance  God  winked  at  " — literally  "  over- 
looked." That  is  to  say,  He  did  not  declare  his  special 
disapprobation  of  them,  and  sent  no  heralds  with  articulate 
denunciations  of  them.  His  oracles  were  given  only  to  one 
nation.  Man  was  left  to  the  exercise  of  his  own  reason, 
and  the  results  of  his  idolatry  should  have  checked  him. 
The  argument  had  just  concluded  with  this  idea — that 
man's  own  nature  should  have  taught  him  the  spirituality 
of  the  divine  nature.  There  was  therefore  no  apology  for 
"  this  ignorance."  But  still  it  was  ignorance — lamentable 
ignorance,  and  the  temples  and  statues  of  the  Acropolis 
were  a  sad  memorial  and  witness  of  it.  The  eye  of 
Greece  was  sealed  in  spiritual  gloom.  It  did  not  look 
within  it  to  discover  its  own  dignity,  or  above  it  to 
obtain  a  glimpse  of  the  divine  glories.  There  had  been 
guesses  at  the  truth,  and  crude  and  vicious  idolatry  with 
correspondent  tales  of  mythology  had  sometimes  been 
reprobated  as  a  national  scandal.  But  the  mass  of  the 
people  were  never  reached  by  such  speculations ;  to  them 
the  idol  was  the  god,  and  no  mere  symbol  or  represen- 
tative of  an  unseen  person  or  power.  In  fact  the  absence 
of  faith  produced  idolatry.  Man  could  not  endure  as 
"  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible,"  and  longed  to  have  a 
palpable  god,  one  that  he  could  handle  and  carry  about 
with  him — one  on  his  hearth  as  well  as  in  his  tern  Die. 


PRESENT   DUTY.  223 

Actuated  by  this  very  principle,  the  Jews  asked  a  king ; 
losing  faith  in  a  divine,  invisible  Sovereign,  the  Lord  of 
Hosts,  their  Guardian,  they  clamoured  for  a  visible  leader 
with  helmet  and  sword  to  lead  them  forth  to  battle. 
And  polytheism  was  the  natural  result  of  idolatry.  The 
various  powers  of  nature  in  operation  around  them  could 
only  be  pictured  by  symbols,  and  each  symbol  soon  rose 
to  be  an  independent  divinity.  The  omnipresence  of  the 
one  God  was  lost  sight  of,  or  divided  as  a  domain  of 
numerous  gods.  His  thousand  modes  of  appearance  and 
operation  were  deified.  The  tokens  of  His  presence  were 
hailed  as  indications  of  separate  gods ;  the  movements  of 
His  arm  were  personified,  and  temples  were  built  on  the 
prints  of  His  feet.  What  higher  knowledge  and  faith  are 
possessed  by  us ! 

"  There's  not  a  strain  to  memory  dear, 

Nor  flower  in  sacred  grove ; 

There's  not  a  sweet  note  warbled  there, 

But  minds  us  of  thy  love. 
0  Lord,  our  Lord,  and  spoiler  of  our  foes, 
There  is  no  light  but  Thee,  with  Thee  all  beauty  glows." 

But  the  period  of  divine  forbearance  had  expired.  Such 
ignorance  God  had  overlooked,  "  but  now  commandeth  all 
men  everywhere  to  repent" — chargeth  this  on  everyone 
everywhere — to  repent.  "Now"  is  opposed  to  the  past 
"times."  He  had  overlooked  such  ignorance  then,  but 
his  command  is  urgent  now — no  person  is  exempted,  and 
no  place  is  omitted.  The  men  of  Athens  were  under  the 
injunction;  with  all  their  boasted  wisdom,  the  proud  Stoic, 
the  light-hearted  Epicurean,  and  the  volatile  populace  were 


224  PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 

solemnly  charged  by  the  great  God  to  repent.  The  com- 
mand was  new  indeed,  for  it  had  been  recently  given,  and 
it  was  to  repent — to  desist  from  those  follies,  to  feel  their 
guilt,  and  look  to  God  for  deliverance.  A  complete  change 
of  mind  was  implied;  they  were  to  unlearn  their  past 
creed  and  abandon  their  previous  life,  for  Christianity  pro- 
claimed no  truce,  and  admitted  no  compromise.  And  the 
grand  and  solemn  reason  is  affixed,  that  a  period  of  judg- 
ment is  coming  and  inquest  would  be  made,  for  He  who 
had  issued  the  command  would  examine  into  the  treatment 
it  had  met  with.  Unless  they  repented,  they  could  not 
meet  God  in  the  judgment  with  hope  of  acceptance. 

And  that  judgment-day  was  fixed — "  Because  He  hath 
appointed  a  day  in  the  which  He  will  judge  the  world  in 
righteousness."  The  judge  is  the  great  God,  "  Lord  of 
heaven  and  earth."  He  simply  changes  His  throne  of 
majesty  into  a  tribunal.  He  has  the  right  to  issue  the 
command  to  repent,  and  He  has  the  right  to  inquire  if  it 
be  complied  with.  He  is  not,  as  those  Epicureans  thought, 
indifferent  to  or  unobservant  of  the  actions  of  men,  for  He 
legislates  now,  and  He  will  judge  hereafter.  Nor  is  he,  as 
those  Stoics  dreamed,  so  much  identified  with  His  universe 
as  a  portion  of  Himself  that  he  cannot  sever  Himself  from 
it,  and  sit  in  judgment  upon  it  as  responsible  to  Him. 
Nay,  the  period  of  the  judgment  is  irrevocably  set  down 
— a  period  known  only  to  the  Judge  Himself.  It  is 
not  left  to  the  course  of  events,  but  every  day  leads  to  and 
prepares  for  the  "last  day,"  when  the  human  species 
shall  have  completed  its  cycle.  It  will  not  be  antedated, 
and  it  cannot  be  postponed.  And  the  world  is  to  be 


THE  LAST  JUDGMENT.  225 

judged — all  its  population — whatever  their  character  or 
country.  The  judges  of  the  Areopagus  shall  stand  before 
a  higher  tribunal.  No  resistance  will  avail.  No  room  is 
there  for  escape,  for  all  must  appear;  the  order  of  the 
judge  cannot  be  set  aside,  and  there  is  no  moment  for 
repentance,  for  time  has  been  completed.  Solemn  thought 
for  a  human  spirit  to  be  arraigned  before  its  Creator, 
whose  eye  sees  at  once  its  entire  history — motive  as  well 
as  action,  wishes  that  may  never  have  been  expressed, 
desires  that  would  have  shuddered  at  their  own  gratifi- 
cation, and  misdeeds  which  had  long  since  faded  into 
oblivion.  Judgment  implies  omniscience,  a  perfect  com- 
prehension of  the  whole  character  of  every  man.  If  "  in 
God  we  live  and  move,  and  have  our  being,"  He  knows 
us,  and  each  of  us  may  say — "  0  Lord,  Thou  hast  searched 
me,  and  known  me.  Thou  knowest  my  down-sitting  and 
mine  uprising;  Thou  understandest  my  thought  afar  off. 
Thou  compassest  my  path,  and  my  lying  down,  and  art 
acquainted  with  all  my  ways.  For  there  is  not  a  word  in 
my  tongue,  but  lo,  O  Lord,  thou  knowest  it  altogether. 
Thou  hast  beset  me  behind  and  before,  and  laid  thine  hand 
upon  me." 

Nor  can  the  world  object  to  be  judged.  Every  man  has 
been  created  by  God  for  Himself,  and  all  his  mental  and 
moral  endowments  have  been  conferred  upon  him  with 
this  view.  Instinct  may  not  bring  along  with  it  such  a 
result,  but  the  gift  of  reason  and  freedom  implies  responsi- 
bility. We  have  been  made  by  God  to  live  to  God,  and 
this  is  the  standard  of  judgment;  or,  putting  it  into  a  more 
direct  evangelical  form,  God  has  provided  salvation  for 

P 


226  PAUL  AT   ATHENS. 

us,  and  may  He  not  ask  whether  we  have  accepted  it;  or 
whether  we  have  scorned  His  gift  and  destroyed  ourselves  ? 
For  all  that  God  has  made  him,  for  all  that  God  has 
done  for  him,  for  his  belief  as  well  as  for  his  life,  is  man 
accountable  to  God. 

"While  God,  who  creates,  upholds,  and  governs  us,  has 
the  right,  and,  from  His  omniscience,  has  the  qualification 
to  judge  us,  we  are  assured  at  the  same  time  of  His  perfect 
rectitude.  He  will  judge  the  world  in  righteousness — not 
only  in  the  exercise  of  perfect  equity,  but  His  equity 
necessitates  such  a  judgment.  Justice  belongs  to  His 
nature,  and  characterizes  all  his  proceedings.  Without  it 
as  the  unchanging  substratum,  mercy  might  degenerate 
into  weakness,  and  power  stretch  itself  into  tyranny. 
"  Just  and  true  are  Thy  ways,  Thou  King  of  saints  j " 
"  Thou  only  art  holy."  His  laws  are  the  expression  of 
His  rectitude,  and  His  providence  exemplifies  it.  In  it 
Adam  was  expelled  from  Paradise,  and  the  old  world 
drowned — Israel  sent  into  captivity,  and  ultimately  dis- 
persed. In  it,  and  by  its  process  of  self- vindication, 
the  drunkard  undermines  his  health  and  shortens  his  life ; 
nay,  in  the  midst  of  many  disturbing  influences,  vice  is, 
in  a  true  sense,  its  own  punishment,  and  virtue  its  own 
reward.  "  Yerily  there  is  a  reward  for  the  righteous, 
verily  He  is  a  God  that  judgeth  in  the  earth."  "  With 
righteousness  shall  He  judge  the  world,  and  the  people 
with  equity." 

For  He  cannot  err,  or  be  charged  with  unconscious 
injustice  or  partiality.  A  human  judge  may  blunder,  may 
fail  to  identify  the  criminal,  or  leave  out  of  view  some 


INFALLIBLE   EVIDENCE.  227 

aggravating  or  some  extenuating  element  in  the  evidence. 
His  mind  may  be  prejudiced  insensibly  by  the  face  of  the 
culprit,  or  swayed  by  the  apparent  candour  of  some  hostile 
and  unscrupulous  witness.  Even  on  that  hill  where  the 
judges  of  the  Areopagus  had  sat  under  night,  that  they 
might  simply  hear  proof  on  either  side  and  be  unmoved 
by  appearances,  sentences  at  variance  with  equity  had  been 
pronounced,  in  spite  of  their  rigid  impartiality  and  severe 
and  patient  investigation ;  for  they  could  not  always  get 
at  the  facts,  or  did  not  in  every  case  give  each  fact  its  just 
weight  in  their  deliberations.  But  the  divine  judge  can 
never  be  imposed  on.  "All  things  are  naked  and  open 
unto  the  eyes  of  Him  with  whom  we  have  to  do;"  all 
motives  and  thoughts,  all  the  complex  elements  that  mould 
and  make  up  character,  are  utterly  known  to  Him.  The 
scales  of  His  justice  are  so  delicate,  that  they  vibrate  under 
what  would  be  utterly  inappreciable  before  an  earthly 
tribunal.  As  a  man  really  is,  so  shall  he  appear  before 
God,  but  man  takes  cognizance  only  of  what  appears,  not 
what  is. 

For  even  the  universe  presents  infallible  witness.  The 
following  is  the  awful  statement  of  one  well  qualified 
so  to  speak — "  Whilst  the  atmosphere  we  breathe  is  the 
ever-living  witness  of  the  sentiments  we  have  uttered,  the 
waters  and  the  more  solid  materials  of  the  globe  bear 
equally  enduring  testimony  of  the  acts  we  have  committed. 
If  the  Almighty  stamped  on  the  brow  of  the  first  murderer 
the  indelible  and  visible  mark  of  his  guilt,  He  has  also 
established  laws  by  which  every  succeeding  criminal  is  not 
less  irrevocably  chained  to  the  testimony  of  his  crime ;  for 


228  PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 

every  atom  of  his  mortal  frame,  through  whatever  changes 
its  several  particles  may  migrate,  will  still  retain,  adhering 
to  it  through  every  combination,  some  movement  derived 
from  that  very  muscular  effort  by  which  the  crime  itself 
was  perpetrated.  The  soul  of  the  negro  whose  fettered 
body,  surviving  the  living  charnel-house  of  his  infected 
prison,  was  thrown  into  the  sea  to  lighten  the  ship,  that 
his  Christian  master  might  escape  the  limited  justice  at 
length  assigned  by  civilized  man  to  crimes  whose  profits 
had  long  gilded  their  atrocity,  will  need,  at  the  last  great 
day  of  human  account,  no  living  witness  of  his  earthly 
agony.  When  man  and  all  his  race  shall  have  disappeared 
from  the  face  of  our  planet,  ask  every  particle  of  air  still 
floating  over  the  unpeopled  earth,  and  it  will  record  the 
cruel  mandate  of  the  tyrant.  Interrogate  every  wave 
which  breaks  unimpeded  on  ten  thousand  desolate  shores, 
and  it  will  give  evidence  of  the  last  gurgle  of  the  waters 
which  closed  over  the  head  of  his  dying  victim,  confront 
the  murderer  with  every  corporeal  atom  of  his  immolated 
slave,  and  in  its  still  quivering  movements  he  will  read 
the  prophet's  denunciation  of  the  prophet-king — Thou  art 
the  man.'1'1  But  even  this  strange  and  indelible  record, 
legible  only  to  the  eye  of  omniscience,  is  imperfect;  for 
there  are  many  thoughts  and  purposes,  hidden  volitions  and 
cravings,  which  belong  solely  to  mind,  and  make  no 
external  impress.  Yet  these  are  not  unknown,  nor  are 
they  forgotten.  They  form  the  character,  and  that  char- 
acter meets  with  infallible  judgment ;  or,  according  to  the 
impressive  figure,  "  the  judgment  is  set,  and  the  books  are 
opened."  Everything  takes  place  in  God,  for  "in  Him 


MEMORY.  229 

we  live  and  move,  and  have  our  being,"  and  in  God  is  it 
therefore  laid  up  beyond  possibility  of  error  or  oblivion. 
Nor  can  God  pronounce  any  verdict  not  holy  in  the 
highest  sense,  and  equitable  to  the  fullest  extent.  "  Every 
word  of  God  is  pure ;  He  is  a  shield  unto  them  that  put 
their  trust  in  Him."  No  sentence  of  His  can  be  improved 
— "  Add  not  thou  unto  His  words,  lest  He  reprove  thee, 
and  thou  be  found  a  liar." 

Nor,  perhaps,  is  it  rash  to  say  that  our  past  history  is 
so  laid  up  also  in  ourselves,  that  God's  touch  can  at  any 
time  evoke  it  into  sudden  consciousness.  "Memory," 
said  one  of  their  own  poets,  "  is  the  queen  of  things."  Its 
storehouse  is  vast  and  secret,  and  what  appears  to  be  for- 
gotten may  in  a  moment  start  up  under  some  impulse  or 
association.  The  mind  apparently  never  ceases  to  act, 
even  in  sleep,  for  a  person  suddenly  roused  wakes  always 
out  of  a  dream,  and  probably  nothing  ever  really  passes 
into  absolute  oblivion.  Abnormal  states  of  mind  in  som- 
nambulism and  in  cerebral  disease,  prove  the  amazing 
power  and  compass  of  involuntary  recollection — in  repeat- 
ing long  arguments  or  pieces  of  poetry,  in  depicting 
scenes  long  ago  visited,  and  in  speaking  languages  unused 
since  childhood — feats  found  to  be  utterly  impossible  in  a 
sound  and  healthy  condition.  Innumerable  instances  of 
this  nature  show  that,  in  all  likelihood,  no  sensation 
received  by  the  mind,  no  judgment  formed,  desire  enter- 
tained, decision  come  to,  acquisition  made,  or  emotion  felt 
by  it,  ever  fades  into  nothing,  as  if  it  never  had  been; 
but  that  all  is  treasured  up  in  it,  and  needs  but  a  word 
from  Him  who  made  it  to  bring  it  into  light,  and  to 


230  PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 

reproduce  in  a  moment  to  a  man  all  he  ever  was,  or 
thought^  or  did,  so  that  in  a  moment  of  intense  and  sur- 
prising consciousness  he  shall  live  over  again  the  whole 
of  his  existence !  May  not  he  that  stands  before  the 
tribunal  be  thus  enabled  to  read  himself  in  the  light  which 
God's  eye  flashes  in  upon  him  ? 

Thus  every  one  at  His  awful  tribunal  will  admit  the 
justness  of  that  decision  pronounced  upon  him — not  decision 
in  the  ordinary  forensic  sense,  implying  either  previous 
ignorance  or  doubt  before  trial,  but  decision  as  the  simple 
declaration  of  a  living  omniscience.  Every  one  will  feel 
that  "God  is  justified  when  He  speaks,  and  clear  when 
He  judges."  For  were  any  one  even  of  those  condemned 
to  have  doubts,  or  to  feel  that  God  had  acted  hardly 
towards  him,  such  a  sense  of  injury  would  nerve  him  to 
the  endurance  of  all  the  agony  which  might  be  sent  upon 
him.  "  He  will  judge  the  world  in  righteousness,"  and 
show  it  to  be  so.  Believers  are  not  justified  by  works, 
though  they  may  be  judged  by  them.  Their  character  is 
declared  to  be,  not  the  foundation  of  their  acceptance,  but 
the  token  or  fruit  of  their  union  to  Christ,  and  their  love  to 
Him ;  it  is  their  service  to  Him  by  service  to  His,  and 
their  preparation  for  the  kingdom  prepared  for  them. 
Divine  grace  has  so  changed  and  blessed  them,  that  they 
prove  their  meetness  for  heaven  by  their  possession  of  its 
spirit — a  spirit  of  love  to  Jesus  and  all  who  bear  His 
image.  The  test  is  a  sure  one,  and  the  rectitude  of  the 
judge  cannot  be  impugned — "  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done 
it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have 
done  it  unto  me." 


JESUS  THE   JUDGE.  231 

But  there  is  another  and  a  special  revelation.  What 
the  apostle  had  said  might  be  admitted,  for  it  is  what  the 
religion  of  nature  could  not  deny.  But  he  adds  the 
startling  peculiarity — "  He  will  judge  the  world  by  that 
man  whom  He  hath  ordained" — by  that  man — in  Him — 
as  His  representative  and  image.  By  a  man?  What 
would  his  audience  now  think?  He  had  a  few  seconds 
ago  been  censuring  their  idolatry — telling  them  that  statues 
can  never  be  a  likeness  of  Deity,  and  that  He  does  not 
reside  in  hand-made  shrines — and  how  then  will  He  by 
a  man  do  this  solemn  and  divine  work  of  judging  the 
world?  The  apostle  was  not  allowed  to  explain,  or  he 
could  have  easily  solved  the  mystery  as  to  the  character 
and  relations  of  the  man  whom  He  hath  ordained — set 
apart  to  this  high  office.  For  that  man  is  more  than  man. 
A  man  He  is,  and  we  rejoice  to  know  it,  but  his  manhood 
is  a  second  and  assumed  nature.  He  is  God — the  Son 
of  God — equal  with  God.  That  omniscience  and  equity 
which  are  requisite  in  a  judge,  meet  in  Him.  "The 
Father  judgeth  no  man,  but  hath  committed  all  judgment 
unto  the  Son,  and  hath  given  Him  authority  to  execute 
judgment  also,  because  He  is  the  Son  of  man."  In  His 
mediatorial  position  He  is  the  Father's  servant,  and  the 
judgment  is  the  last  great  function  of  the  mediatorial 
reign.  Therefore  the  man  Jesus  is  judge — He  who  loved 
us  and  died  for  us — and  His  question  is,  have  you  relied 
on  my  love,  and  accepted  my  atonement?  Farther,  man 
has  been  placed  in  a  new  position  by  Christ's  incarnation. 
He  has  been  allied  to  Divinity,  that  he  might  be  brought 
back  to  the  divine  favour  and  image.  Our  nature  had 


232  PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 

died  under  the  penalty  of  the  old  covenant,  but  a  new 
representative  man  has  been  given  us,  that  a  new  spiritual 
life  might  be  originated  and  developed  within  us.  The 
Word  was  made  flesh,  that  flesh  might  become  divine. 
By  Christ's  becoming  one  of  us  another  epoch  commences, 
and  a  new  path  is  opened  up  through  our  union  with  Him. 
God  became  man  to  win  man  back  to  Himself,  and  He 
who  is  the  second  Adam — "that  man,"  man's  Saviour 
and  Brother — is  to  be  judge. 

And  O  what  consolation  in  the  thought  that  He  is  to  be 
judge !  How  appalling  the  prospect  of  standing  "  before 
this  holy  Lord  God  " — of  being  enveloped  and  permeated 
with  His  brightness — of  being  conscious  that  every  part 
of  our  naked  nature  is  so  filled  with  His  presence  and 
inspection !  But  He  who  is  on  that  judgment-seat  is  Christ 
— the  man  Christ  Jesus,  with  His  heart  of  sympathy  and 
tongue  of  comfort.  And  though  He  come  in  glory,  sur- 
rounded by  a  dense  and  bright  retinue — the  armies  of 
heaven  following  after  Him ;  and  though  He  seat  Himself 
on  the  great  white  throne,  amidst  the  wreck  of  elements 
and  convulsions  of  nature,  and  other  tokens  of  homage  to 
His  presence  and  majesty,  yet  He  is  our  kinsman  clothed 
in  our  nature — that  very  nature  in  which  He  lay  on  the 
Virgin's  bosom,  and  died  on  the  accursed  tree. 

And  the  proof  is  not  lacking — "  Whereof  He  hath  given 
assurance  unto  all  men  in  that  He  hath  raised  Him  from 
the  dead;"  given  assurance — literally  afforded  faith  or  the 
means  of  belief.  How  the  apostle  would  have  developed 
the  proof  we  know  not,  for  at  this  period  he  was  rudely 
interrupted.  Into  the  array  of  proof  we  do  not  enter,  and 


CHRIST'S  RESURRECTION.  233 

we  may  find  subsequent  occasion  to  refer  to  it.  But  we 
may  say,  that  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  proved  His  mission 
to  be  divine,  and  showed  Him  to  be  the  head  of  humanity, 
and,  therefore,  entitled  to  be  its  judge.  His  resurrection 
is  also  the  proof  that  all  men  are  to  be  raised ;  not  a 
token  that  they  may  be  raised,  but  a  pledge  that  they 
shall  be  raised.  As  by  His  resurrection  He  becomes 
judge,  so  they  are  raised  in  order  to  be  judged.  And 
thus  assurance  of  judgment  is  given  unto  all  men. 

The  apostle  could  easily  have  given  them  indubitable 
evidence  that  Christ  had  been  raised  from  the  dead ;  as,  for 
example,  that  His  tomb  was  guarded,  and  that  the  sentinels 
only  befooled  themselves  and  those  who  suborned  them,  by 
their  contradictory  announcement — "  His  disciples  came 
and  stole  Him  away  while  we  slept."  Koman  soldiers 
asleep  on  special  duty,  and  forward  to  confess  it — asleep 
on  a  post  which  they  were  warned  might  be  assailed — all 
of  them  asleep  at  the  same  instant,  and  when  under  orders 
of  unusual  strictness — asleep,  and  yet  able  to  tell  what 
happened,  what  was  done,  and  who  did  it,  too,  when  their 
eyes  were  shut  in  unanimous  slumber — all  of  them  asleep, 
and  yet  not  one  of  them  awakened  by  the  noise  and  con- 
cussion of  the  earthquake  which  preceded  the  resurrection ! 
Nor  had  these  disciples  any  motive  to  do  the  act  imputed 
to  them.  They  had  no  idea  that  their  Master  should  rise 
again,  and  all  their  hopes  were  buried  along  with  Him. 
They  could,  therefore,  never  dream  of  such  an  attempt  as 
stealing  His  body,  it  being  of  no  use  to  them,  as  they  had 
no  romance  to  base  upon  its  absence ;  and  if  they  had,  the 
eleven  poltroons  who  "  forsook  Him  and  fled  "  at  the  sight 


234  PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 

of  the  soldiers  in  the  garden,  would  never  have  ventured 
to  attack  a  Roman  guard  of  sixteen  men  under  the  bright 
moonlight  of  the  eastern  heavens.     Farther,  He  who  had 
risen  appeared  to  His  former  friends  who  could  identify 
Him,  and  on  the  spot,  too,  where  He  had  been  put  to 
death.     It  was  not  as  if  one  supposed  to  have  risen  in 
Glasgow  should  be  said  to  have  appeared  first  in  Inverness, 
where  he  was  a  comparative  stranger.     It  was  not  as  if  it 
were  alleged  that  one  had  risen,  but  that  the  story  was 
only  first  heard  of  half  a  century  after  the  imagined  event. 
At  the  time  when,  and  in  the  place  where  He  had  died  and 
been  buried,  did  the  Lord  appear,  when  full  investigation 
could  be  made  into  all  the  circumstances,  and  into  the 
testimony  of  crowds  of  living  witnesses.     But  those  who 
should  have  originated  and  conducted  the  inquiry  shrank 
from  it  under  the  impression  that  the  result  would  not  be 
to  their  satisfaction,  and  resorted  to  the  miserable  refuge  of 
authority,  "  straitly  threatening"  the  witnesses  to  say  no 
more  on  the  matter ;  while  they  who  were  "  witnesses  of 
these  things  "  had  no  end  to  gain,  and  no  worldly  advan- 
tage to  secure;  on  the  contrary,  proscription  and  death 
resulted  from  the  avowal  of  their  belief  in  this  momentous 
tenet.    And  the  apostle  might  have  referred,  in  conclusion, 
to  his  own  conversion,  when  the  Lord  appeared  to  him  and 
gave  him  that  commission  under  which  he  was  at  that 
moment  speaking  on  the  Areopagus. 

But  the  simple  mention  of  the  "  resurrection "  led  to 
a  burst  of  laughter  on  the  part  of  some,  and  destroyed 
all  anxiety  to  hear  any  farther  on  the  part  of  the  whole. 
They  did  not  deem  it  worth  their  while  to  listen  any 


INTERRUPTION    OFFERED   TO   THE   APOSTLE.         235 

longer ;  and  they  felt  so  and  said  so,  just  when  the  argu- 
ment had  reached  a  crisis,  and  a  chain  of  evidence  was 
about  to  be  woven — just  when  Christ  was  about  to  be 
specifically  preached  to  them,  they  contemptuously  shut  the 
preacher's  mouth,  and  told  him  that  really  they  had  heard 
enough,  that  their  curiosity  was  satisfied,  and  that  it  would 
be  a  mere  waste  of  time  for  him  to  proceed.  The  apostle 
must  have  felt  this  treatment  very  keenly ;  never  had  he  had 
such  an  opportunity,  and  never  had  he  failed  so  egregiously. 
He  had  made  no  general  impression.  The  anxiety  to  hear 
him  had  been  keen,  but  he  could  not  even  command 
attention  to  the  close  of  his  address.  No  wonder  that 
after  this  severe  disappointment  he  entered  Corinth,  the 
next  Greek  city  he  visited,  as  he  says,  "  in  weakness,  and 
in  fear,  and  in  much  trembling."  Not  that  the  preacher 
could  blame  himself,  as  if  he  had  selected  a  wrong  topic, 
or  had  not  handled  it  with  sufficient  skill  and  power  ; 
but  apprehensions  of  his  success  in  southern  Greece 
seem  to  have  filled  him  with  despondency.  He  was  in 
a  new  scene,  and  the  synagogue  seems  to  have  afforded 
no  basis  of  operations.  He  had  often  battled  with 
Jewish  obstinacy,  and  to  some  purpose ;  had  been  in 
contact  with  Cyprian  licentiousness,  and  had  succeeded 
to  a  marvel ;  had  mingled  with  the  dissolute  popula- 
tions of  Antioch,  and  gained  hundreds  of  converts;  had 
so  impressed  the  rude  men  of  Lycaonia  that  they  took 
him  for  a  god ;  had  been  the  victim  of  Roman  ferocity  in 
Philippi,  yet  had  formed  a  church ;  had  preached  in 
Thessalonica,  and  reaped  compensatory  fruit  —  but  in 
Athens,  the  eye  of  Greece,  where  he  first  confronted  "  the 


236  PAUL  AT   ATHENS. 

wisdom  of  this  world,"  he  could  not  even  succeed  in  stir- 
ring opposition  or  stimulating  inquiry.  He  would  rather 
have  been  persecuted  than  put  off  so  gently  in  this  way 
— would  rather  have  been  scourged  as  a  peace-disturber 
than  dismissed  as  a  crazy  enthusiast.  What  he  had  said 
had  told  so  little  upon  his  volatile  audience  that  they 
affronted  him  by  breaking  up  and  leaving  him  in  the 
midst  of  his  harangue.  Need  we  wonder  that  the  apostle 
hasted  to  be  off,  or  that  we  read — "  So  Paul  departed  from 
among  them  ?"  Though  he  was  afterwards  in  Greece,  nay, 
at  Corinth,  he  never  again  visited  Athens.  But  his  work 
was  not  wholly  fruitless :  "Howbeit  certain  men  clave  unto 
him;  among  the  which  was  Dionysius  the  Areopagite "- 
one  of  the  judges  of  the  Areopagus,  and,  therefore,  of  the 
best  blood  in  the  city — "and  a  woman  named  Daman's, 
and  others  with  them."  This  woman  must  have  been  of 
some  note  that  she  is  thus  named.  Possibly  she  belonged 
to  the  notorious  class  of  Hetairai — mistresses — the  class 
to  which  Aspasia,  Lais,  Phryne,  and  Lastheneia  belonged — 
courtezans,  indeed,  and  usually  slaves  or  foreigners,  though 
some  of  them,  by  superior  education,  boldness,  and  wit, 
rose  to  influence  in  the  state,  and  held  in  their  houses 
reunions  of  its  chief  statesmen,  philosophers,  and  orators. 

The  Greek  worship,  with  its  magnificent  architecture 
and  sculpture,  was  a  powerless  institution.  It  had  failed 
to  lead  men  to  true  theology.  The  speculations  of  Thales, 
Pythagoras,  and  Zeno  on  the  origin  and  phenomena  of  the 
universe,  could  not  bring  their  disciples  to  this  truth — 
"  God  made  the  world,  and  all  things  therein ;  He  is  Lord 
of  heaven  and  earth.'7  And  though  Socrates  reclaimed 


SOCRATES  ON   MARS-HILL.  237 

many  to  the  study  of  themselves,  this  self-knowledge  made 
little  or  no  impression  on  the  masses.  For  their  religion 
had  a  disastrous  influence  over  their  lives ;  the  actions  of 
their  gods  being  a  stimulus  to  depravity.  Men  became, 
like  their  objects  of  worship,  sensual  and  debased,  and 
gloried  in  pleading  the  example  of  the  gods — examples  we 
should  blush  to  describe.  As  the  mind  did  not  arrive  at 
truth,  the  conscience  could  not  find  repose.  A  veil  lay  upon 
the  other  world,  and  they  scoifed  at  a  resurrection.  As  the 
apostle  was  about  to  expatiate  upon  its  certainty,  they 
rose  in  their  levity  and  bade  him  desist — they  could  not 
tolerate  the  mention  of  it.  When  "  the  man,  the  best  of 
all  his  time,  the  most  wise  and  just,"  stood  on  Mars-hill 
and  received  sentence  of  death  as  "a  setter  forth  of  strange 
gods,"  he  is  reported  to  have  said — "  To  die  is  one  of  two 
things :  for  either  the  dead  may  be  annihilated,  and  have 
no  sensation  of  anything  whatever  •  or,  as  it  is  said,  there 
is  a  certain  change  and  passage  of  the  soul  from  one  place 
to  another.  And  if  it  is  a  privation  of  all  sensation,  as  it 
were  a  sleep  in  which  the  sleeper  has  no  dream,  death 
would  be  a  wonderful  gain.  For  I  think  that  if  any  one, 
having  selected  a  night  in  which  he  slept  so  soundly  as 
not  to  have  had  a  dream,  and  having  compared  this  night 
with  all  the  other  nights  and  days  of  his  life,  should  be 
required  on  consideration  to  say  how  many  days  and 
nights  he  had  passed  better  and  more  pleasantly  than  this 
night  throughout  his  life,  I  think  that  not  only  a  private 
person,  but  even  the  great  king  himself,  would  find  them 
easy  to  number  in  comparison  with  other  days  and  nights. 
If,  therefore,  death  is  a  thing  of  this  kind,  I  say  it  is  a 


238  PAUL  AT   ATHENS. 

gain ;  for  thus  all  futurity  appears  to  be  nothing  more  than 
one  night.  But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  death  is  a  removal 
from  hence  to  another  place,  and  what  is  said  be  true,  that 
all  the  dead  are  there,  what  greater  blessing  can  there  be 
than  this,  my  judges?  For  if,  on  arriving  at  Hades, 
released  from  these  who  pretend  to  be  judges,  one  shall 
find  those  who  are  true  judges,  and  who  are  said  to  judge 
there,  Minos  and  Rhadamanthus,  .JEacus  and  Triptolemus, 
and  such  others  of  the  demigods  as  were  just  during  their 
own  life,  would  this  be  a  sad  removal?  At  what  price 
would  you  not  estimate  a  conference  with  Orpheus  and 
Musseus,  Hesiod  and  Homer  ?  I  indeed  should  be  willing 
to  die  often  if  this  be  true."  Thus  doubt  and  fluctuation 
seem  to  have  disturbed  the  mind  of  the  sage,  though  he  is 
depicted  as  arguing  elsewhere  the  immortality  of  the  soul  as 
boldly  arid  truly  as  unassisted  reason  ever  could.  But  his 
philosophy  had  fallen  so  dead,  that  the  Athenians,  with  all 
their  love  of  news,  declined  to  listen  to  a  new  appeal  on 
the  subject  from  a  bold  and  eloquent  stranger.  What  was 
speculation  with  Socrates  is  certainty  with  us.  Our  assur- 
ance is,  that  the  spirit  at  death  is  conveyed  to  the  bright 
spirit-world — the  throne  of  God  in  its  centre,  and  the  Lamb 
the  object  of  enraptured  homage;  that  the  true  and  the 
good  are  there ;  Abel  and  the  martyrs ;  Enoch  and  the  ante- 
diluvian witnesses;  Abraham  and  the  patriarchs;  Aaron 
and  the  spiritual  priesthood ;  David  and  the  holy  kingdom; 
Elijah  and  the  prophets ;  the  apostles  and  the  early  church; 
the  saints  of  all  ages  and  countries — all  who  have  believed 
on  Christ,  done  His  work,  and  borne  His  image.  What  a 
glorious  assembly  to  mingle  with  and  enjoy,  as  we  hold 


THE  FOLLY   OF  GRECIAN  WISDOM.  239 

fellowship  and  offer  worship  with  them — partakers  all  of 
us  of  the  "  common  salvation.'7 

But  "  the  world  by  wisdom  knew  not  God."  Nay,  in 
those  degenerate  days  there  was  such  indifference  produced 
by  this  so-called  wisdom,  that  "philosophers"  did  not 
deign  to  listen  to  what  was  highest  philosophy.  Pride  of 
intellect  has  ever  been  the  hardest  barrier  against  the 
truth  :  "  Seest  thou  a  man  wise  in  his  own  conceit  ?  there 
is  more  hope  of  a  fool  than  of  him."  "  Simplicity  and 
godly  sincerity"  were  wanting  at  Athens,  and  the  truth 
was  rejected.  Yes,  even  Athens,  of  which  Lucretius 
sings — 

"  Athens,  of  peerless  name,  to  savage  man 
First  taught  the  blessings  of  the  cultured  field, 
His  life  remodelled,  and  with  laws  secured. 
She,  too,  the  soul's  sweet  solaces  first  oped 
When  erst  the  sage  she  reared,  whose  boundless  breast 
Swelled  with  all  science,  and  whose  lips  promulged  " — 

this  Athens  was  indifferent  to  the  noblest  of  blessings, 
which  had  brought  down  the  "hidden  manna"  from  heaven, 
with  laws  which  are  the  expression  of  infinite  love,  and 
joys  which  spring  from  the  fellowship  of  the  soul  with  its 
Creator,  as  it  becomes  more  intensely  conscious  of  bearing 
His  image  and  possessing  His  love.  Yes ;  Athens,  blinded 
by  its  wisdom  and  its  worldliness,  saw  no  truth  nor  beauty 
in  the  divine  philosophy  conveyed  to  it  by  a  Jewish  travel- 
ler in  whose  glance — 

"  There  lurked  that  nameless  spell 
Which  speaks,  itself  unspeakable." 

May  we  not,  in  fine,  fetch  a  lesson  to  ourselves  ?  Are 
there  no  idols  among  us  in  this  age  of  hero-worship  ?  We 


240  PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 

allude  not  to  the  strange  fact,  that  some  months  in  our 
years  are  named  from  Eoman  idols,  and  that  all  the  days 
of  our  week  are  named  from  Saxon  idols.  But  is  there 
no  pride  of  reason  nursed  by  intellectual  ascendancy?  In 
what  does  homage  to  force  or  genius,  irrespective  of  the 
end  to  which  they  have  been  applied,  and  in  oblivion  of 
the  One  Giver,  differ  from  idolatry  or  nature-worship — 
from  that  process  which  made  a  god  of  tutelar  power,  and 
a  goddess  of  patriotic  wisdom  ?  Are  there  not  those  that 
bow  the  knee  to  Mammon  in  the  exchange,  who  would  not 
bow  it  to  Jupiter  in  a  temple  ?  Are  there  not  many  who 
in  boasted  illumination  cast  aside  the  teaching  of  scripture, 
or  who,  in  the  enjoyment  of  wealth  and  power,  feel  not 
their  need  of  it  ?  This  age  is  a  strange  one.  There  are 
open  defenders  of  atheism,  impugners  of  sabbatic  obliga- 
tion, and  public  revilers  of  Christianity,  as  if  it  were  effete 
and  worthless — denying  God's  existence  and  unhallowing 
God's  day.  One  has  written  a  book  to  show  that  religion 
is  so  feeble  that  it  has  had  no  influence  on  civilization ; 
and  another  in  a  neighbouring  nation,  who  is  so  proud 
as  to  believe  and  call  himself  a  combination  of  Aristotle 
and  Paul,  proclaims  that  new  gods  should  be  introduced 
and  adored — heroes  and  saints — Moses  and  Homer,  Con- 
fucius and  Shakspeare,  Hercules  and  Frederick  the  Great. 
It  is  one  hypothesis  that  man  is  but  an  elevated  monkey, 
and  that  he  and  the  universe  around  him  are  but  develop- 
ments out  of  the  atoms  of  an  ancient  fire-mist ;  and  it  is 
another,  quite  in  keeping,  that  the  heavens,  which  of  old 
declared  the  glory  of  God,  now  declare  only  the  glory 
of  Newton  and  Laplace.  That  God  had  become  man, 


MODERN  PHILOSOPHY.  241 

was  once  a  faith  to  be  gloried  in,  but  with  many  the 
proposition  has  been  reversed,  and  their  creed  is,  that 
man  has  become  God.  Some  maintain  the  grossest  mate- 
rialism— that  there  is  no  spirit  in  man ;  some,  admitting 
that  they  are  the  "offspring  of  God,"  refuse  to  call  Him 
Father,  and  unfilially  style  Him  Nature ;  and  others  deny 
the  responsibility  of  man  for  his  belief  even  to  that  God 
who  presents  him  with  evidence,  and  has  conferred  upon 
him  powers  by  which  he  can  sift  it  and  come  to  a  right 
conclusion.  Are  not  "wise  men  after  the  flesh"  dealing 
with  the  gospel  as  the  Epicureans  and  Stoics  dealt  with 
Paul  ?  A  resurrection  to  the  one  and  the  other  sect  was 
impossible  in  theory,  and  undesirable  in  hope;  for  with 
them  the  soul  itself  was  supposed  to  sink  into  unconscious- 
ness at  death,  either  by  being  dissolved  or  being  absorbed 
into  the  great  sum  of  existence.  So  it  is  that  philosophic 
minds  still  refuse  the  revelation  of  Christ,  or  strip  it  of  all 
that  is  distinctive  and  remedial,  before  they  profess  to 
receive  it.  For  some  it  is  too  simple,  and  for  others  too 
mysterious ;  one  class  objects  that  it  takes  too  little  notice 
of  man's  present  interests ;  and  another,  that  its  morality 
is  too  transcendental.  Inspiration  is  pared  down,  and  the 
authority  of  scripture  is  lowered  by  this  party ;  and  by  that 
party  the  truths  of  scripture  are  thought  to  be  good  enough 
for  the  age  which  produced  them,  but  deficient  in  breadth 
and  adaptation  for  the  enlightened  nineteenth  century.  By 
such  seekers  after  wisdom,  the  gospel  is  dismissed  as  quietly 
and  effectually  as  was  its  great  apostle  from  Mars-hill. 

O  that  all  this  wildness  and  passion  were  stilled  by  the 
remembrance  that  He  "  hath  appointed  a  day  in  which  He 

Q 


242  PAUL  AT  ATHENS. 

will  judge  the  world  in  righteousness  by  that  man  whom 
He  hath  ordained — whereof  He  hath  given  assurance  unto 
all  men  in  that  He  hath  raised  Him  from  the  dead."  Is 
Christ  risen — ay  or  no  ?  The  controversy  turns  on  this — 
Is  it  fact  or  fable  ?  If  His  resurrection  be  a  demonstrable 
reality,  then  surely  His  voice  must  be  listened  to,  and 
His  warnings  pondered.  His  gospel  has  a  claim  which  no 
other  form  of  truth  presents — it  is  God's  immediate  and 
authentic  revelation.  It  can  be  superseded  by  no  dialec- 
tics7  and  rung  out  by  no  poetical  peal.  The  light  of  science 
is  unable  to  eclipse  it,  the  treasures  of  art  equal  not  its 
"pearl  of  great  price."  Legislation  dares  not  displace  it,  for 
it  gives  law  to  the  conscience,  and  without  it  civilization  is 
but  a  whited  sepulchre.  Freedom  rests  upon  it  as  a  solid 
basis,  because  its  disciples  are  not  to  be  the  "servants  of 
men  ; "  and  national  progress,  true  prosperity — greatest 
happiness  to  all — are  measured  by  its  development.  For  it 
gives  nobility  to  the  meanest,  and  the  best  of  the  graces  to 
the  highest — presents  every  one  with  an  aim  worthy  of  his 
nature — sanctifies  every  pursuit  as  a  calling  on  which  he 
may  "abide  with  God" — sends  a  cheering  influence  through 
all  the  relations  of  life — relieves  the  poor  and  needy — visits 
the  "fatherless  and  widows  in  their  affliction  " — sets  its 
brightest  jewel  in  the  crown,  and  guards  the  purity  of  the 
ermine — breathes  a  just  and  generous  spirit  into  legisla- 
tion— opens  up  a  widening  circle  of  spiritual  brotherhood, 
and  blends  earth  with  heaven :  realizing  the  Saviour's  natal 
anthem — "Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  and  on  earth  peace, 
goodwill  toward  men."  Such  a  religion  can  have  no  rival, 
and  admits  of  no  substitute. 


XL— PAUL  AT  CORINTH. 

ACTS  xviii.  1 — 18.     IST  &  2xD  EPISTLES  TO  THE  CORINTHIANS. 

ON  leaving  Athens,  Paul  set  out  for  Corinth — the  capital 
of  Achaia,  and  the  "  city  of  the  two  seas."  It  lay  about 
forty-five  miles  west  from  Athens,  on  an  isthmus  with  a 
seaport  on  each  side — Lechaeum,  about  a  mile  distant,  on 
its  western,  and  Cenchrea,  about  eight  miles  distant,  on 
its  eastern  shore.  It  was  a  thriving  entrepot  for  the  com- 
merce between  northern  and  southern  Greece,  and  it  had 
been  in  other  days  a  strong  military  post,  the  key  of  the 
Peloponnesus.  The  famous  isthmus  was  about  three  miles 
and  a-half  in  breadth  at  its  narrowest  point;  and  boats  being 
sometimes  conveyed  across  it  from  the  Ionian  to  the  jiEgean 
sea,  it  resembled  in  this  respect  those  necks  of  land  in  Scot- 
land called  Tarbet — from  two  words,  meaning,  "  to  draw 
the  boat."  Thus  in  1203  the  Norwegians  sailed  up  Loch 
Long,  dragged  their  boats  over  the  isthmus  of  Tarbet, 
under  two  miles  in  breadth,  and  launching  them  upon 
Loch  Lomond,  slew  and  plundered  the  natives,  who  had 
taken  refuge  on  its  islands,  and  had  never  dreamed  of  such 
a  stratagem.  But  the  importance  of  Corinth  as  a  military 
station  had  almost  ceased  when  it  passed  under  the  Roman 
yoke.  Its  citadel,  Acrocorinthus,  two  thousand  feet  high, 
rising  as  abruptly  as  the  rock  of  Dumbarton,  and  not 


244  PAUL  AT  CORINTH. 

unlike  it,  still  remains  a  prominent  feature  in  the  land- 
scape— 

"  Yet  she  stands, 

A  fortress  formed  to  freedom's  hands ; 
The  whirlwind's  wrath,  the  earthquake's  shock, 
Have  left  untouched  her  hoary  rock, 
The  keystone  of  a  land  which  still, 
Though  fallen,  looks  proudly  on  that  hill; 
The  landmark  to  the  double  tide 
That  purpling  rolls  on  either  side, 
As  if  their  waters  chafed  to  meet, 
Yet  pause  and  crouch  beneath  her  feet." 

Corinth  was  at  this  time  the  residence  of  the  Koman 
proconsul,  and  Gallic,  the  brother  of  Seneca,  held  the 
office.  In  its  "best  days  it  had  been  depraved  in  the 
extreme.  Its  obscene  impurities  had  passed  into  a  proverb, 
and  from  its  very  name  a  word  was  coined  to  denote 
wanton  indulgence.  The  Isthmian  games  in  its  vicinity 
brought  crowds  of  dissolute  strangers  to  it,  and  a  thousand 
priestesses  or  courtezans  had  been  attached  to  the  temple  of 
Venus.  The  basest  passions  were  consecrated  in  this  city 
which  has  given  to  architecture  its  most  florid  order; 
and  the  tub  in  which  Diogenes  kennelled  in  the  principal 
promenade,  was  a  surly  protest  against  surrounding  pomp 
and  luxury.  Many  changes  had  passed  over  it,  but  its 
immoral  character  was  unaltered;  it  still  delighted  in 
show  and  pleasure.  The  consul  Mummius  had  burned  it, 
but  Julius  Caesar  rebuilt  it,  and  peopled  it  as  a  Roman 
colony.  The  spoils  of  the  city — the  work  of  the  potter 
and  silversmith — were  prized  at  Rome,  as  far  surpassing 
anything  that  Italy  could  produce.  If  Athens  was  wholly 
given  to  idolatry,  Corinth  was  wholly  given  to  lust  and 


IDOLATRY  AND  DISSIPATION   OF  CORINTH.          245 

revel,  and  one  of  the  famous  of  its  abandoned  women  had 
a  splendid  tomb  in  the  outskirts.  Nor  had  it  been  in 
reality  less  idolatrous  than  Athens.  Neptune  was  the 
presiding  deity  of  the  maritime  city;  it  had  its  sacred 
fountain,  where  Bellerophon  had  captured  the  winged  steed 
Pegasus;  temples  and  gods  were  abundant;  chariots  of 
Phaethon  and  the  Sun,  with  statues  of  Apollo  and  Venus. 
In  this  gay  and  dissipated  city  Paul  took  up  his  resi- 
dence with  Aquila  and  Priscilla,  Jews  who  had  recently 
been  banished  from  Eome  ;  and  being  "  of  the  same  craft, 
he  wrought  with  them,  for  by  their  occupation  they  were 
tent-makers."  It  was  the  custom  of  the  Jews  to  teach 
their  children  a  trade,  even  though  they  should  be  destined 
to  a  professional  life.  Tents  were  in  great  demand  in 
those  days,  for  no  one  could  travel  without  them,  as  indeed 
is  still  the  case  in  eastern  countries.  The  traveller  must 
carry  all  accomodation  along  with  him,  as  none  can  be  had 
or  found  on  the  road.  Paul's  native  province  of  Cilicia  had 
a  species  of  goats  with  long  hair,  out  of  which  tent-cloth 
called  cilicium  was  woven,  and  it  was  easy  and  natural  for 
him  to  learn  this  occupation  in  his  youth.  This  hair,  or 
the  cloth  made  of  it,  must  have  been  a  common  article  of 
commerce,  so  that  Paul  could  exercise  at  Corinth  the 
craft  which  he  had  been  taught  when  a  boy  in  Tarsus ; 
and  he  wrought  with  his  own  hands,  not  only  because  he 
had  claim  as  yet  on  no  one — for  we  cannot  say  that  his  host 
and  hostess  were  believers  at  this  period — but  because  both 
here  and  at  Thessalonica  there  were  those  who  might 
impugn  his  motives,  and  reckon  him  as  seeking  and 
valuing  a  secular  interest  in  his  labours  and  his  converts. 


246  PAUL  AT  CORINTH. 

He  knew  his  right  and  could  maintain  it,  but  he  waived  it 
from  higher  considerations.  In  the  case  of  Corinth  he  is 
unusually  resolute,  a  proof  that  there  was  some  reason 
of  unusual  urgency:  "Have  I  committed  an  offence  in 
abasing  myself,  that  ye  might  be  exalted,  because  I  have 
preached  to  you  the  gospel  of  God  freely  ?  I  robbed  other 
churches,  taking  wages  of  them,  to  do  you  service.  And 
when  I  was  present  with  you,  and  wanted,  I  was  charge- 
able to  no  man:  for  that  which  was  lacking  to  me  the 
brethren  which  came  from  Macedonia  supplied ;  and  in  all 
things  I  have  kept  myself  from  being  burdensome  unto 
you,  and  so  will  I  keep  myself.  As  the  truth  of  Christ  is 
in  me,  no  man  shall  stop  me  of  this  boasting  in  the  region 
of  Achaia.  Wherefore?  because  I  love  you  not?  God 
knoweth.  But  what  I  do,  that  I  will  do,  that  I  may  cut 
off  occasion  from  them  that  desire  occasion ;  that  wherein 
they  glory,  they  may  be  found  even  as  we." 

It  is  almost  impossible  for  us  to  realize  the  apostle  as  a 
tradesman — dressed  in  an  humble  garb  and  handling  the 
implements  of  his  calling,  undistinguished  in  appearance 
from  the  operatives  round  about  him,  either  at  their  work 
or  at  their  meals.  According  to  his  own  maxim,  he  must 
have  wrought  with  diligence ;  not  with  reluctance,  as  if  he 
were  self-degraded,  not  idling  on  pretence  of  preaching,  but 
"from  the  heart "  doing  the  one  thing  which  was  his  duty. 
How  amazing  to  think  of  that  mighty  mind  which  dis- 
cussed the  divine  decrees  and  argued  out  a  free  justification, 
busying  itself  with  weaving,  shaping,  or  stitching  those 
pieces  of  coarse  haircloth.  He  who  preached  the  "unsearch- 
able riches  of  Christ,"  holds  out  his  hand  to  receive  the 


THE   TENT-MAKER.  247 

wages  which  he  has  earned  by  his  industry.  He  who  felt 
that,  in  his  highest  functions,  it  was  "  a  small  thing  to  be 
judged  of  man's  judgment,"  must  submit  to  have  his  work 
inspected  and  approved  before  he  is  paid  for  it.  Christ's 
servant,  to  arrest  and  commission  whom  He  had  left  His 
glory,  to  whom  He  had  assigned  such  work  and  given  such 
promises  and  qualifications,  is  not  heralded  on  his  way,  is 
not  greeted  with  applause,  nor  welcomed  by  the  noble  and 
received  into  lordly  mansions,  but  is  obliged  to  board  with 
Jewish  exiles,  and  eat  his  bread  "  in  the  sweat  of  his  face." 
We  can  with  difficulty  picture  the  fingers  that  wrote  the 
epistle  to  the  Galatians  plying  a  shuttle  or  handling 
scissors  and  needles,  and  that  for  daily  bread.  What 
thoughts  were  passing  through  that  heart  when  he  was  at 
his  toil — a  heart  at  one  with  Christ,  and  embracing  the 
welfare  of  the  world !  Its  greatest  benefactor,  next  to  its 
Saviour,  might  be  found  in  a  workshop ;  found  there  from 
no  reverse,  but  from  deliberate  purpose — the  orator  at 
Athens  a  mechanic  at  Corinth !  And  when  the  task  of 
the  day  was  over,  he  would  be  found  speaking  to  some 
group,  or  meeting  some  anxious  inquirers,  or  labouring  to 
remove  the  doubts  and  prejudices  of  some  unbelievers. 
And  then  on  the  Sabbath  day  what  a  change,  as  he  rose 
in  power  and  zeal  to  address  the  synagogue  or  the  church, 
as  an  apostle  of  the  Lord  Jesus — what  an  outflood  of  soul 
as  he  reasoned  or  entreated,  or  spoke  of  the  life  of  Christ 
within  him,  or  the  constraining  love  that  lay  upon  him ! 
Is  this  the  tent-maker? 

The  preacher  did  in  Corinth  what  he  had  done  in  every 
town  which  he  had  previously  visited — he  "  reasoned  in 


248  PAUL  AT  CORINTH. 

the  synagogue,  and  persuaded  the  Jews  and  the  Greeks" 
—Greeks,  proselytes  to  the  Jewish  faith  ;  laboured  to  con- 
vince them  that  Jesus  was  the  Messiah — the  only  Saviour 
on  whom  they  should  at  once  and  without  hesitation 
believe.  Every  available  proof  from  the  Old  Testament 
would  be  brought  to  bear  upon  them,  as  in  Antioch, 
Iconium,  Thessalonica,  and  Berea. 

He  had  been  alone  in  Athens,  and  alone  he  had  come 
to  Corinth,  and  for  some  time  he  had  been  evangelizing 
there  before  Silas  and  Timothy  joined  him.  When  they 
arrived,  they  found  him  painfully  occupied  in  the  word, 
that  being  the  truer  reading,  and  not  "  in  the  spirit,"  as 
our  versionists  took  it.  They  found  him  absorbed  in  the 
word — in  preaching  it — more  than  usually  anxious  about 
his  labour  and  the  result  of  it.  The  "  word "  which 
engrossed  him  was  testifying  to  the  Jews  that  Jesus  was 
Christ — discussing  and  witnessing  as  to  Christ  Jesus.  The 
train  of  proof  must  have  been  the  same  as  on  former  occa- 
sions, showing  how  the  oracles  of  the  Old  Testament  were 
all  so  minutely  and  wonderfully  realized  in  the  life  and 
career  of  the  Son  of  Mary.  It  would  seem  as  if,  up  to  the 
arrival  of  Silas  and  Timothy,  the  teaching  of  the  apostle 
had  been  more  general,  but  that  after  their  joining  him,  it 
had  become  more  pressing  and  pointed  in  its  great  and 
solitary  lesson — that  Jesus  is  the  Christ.  He  had  foreseen 
the  result,  and  had  postponed  it  as  long  as  he  could  j  but 
when  he  was  joined  by  his  colleagues,  and  was  thus  enabled 
to  look  to  and  overtake  the  gentile  field,  he  at  once 
became  so  earnest  that  matters  were  brought  to  a  crisis. 
The  Athenians  would  not  believe  their  own  poets,  and  the 


CONVERTS  IN  THE  SYNAGOGUE.         249 

Jews  would  not  believe  their  own  prophets.  The  unbe- 
lieving Jews  "  opposed  themselves  and  blasphemed  "  as  in 
other  places,  and  the  preacher  used  a  symbolic  warning 
and  farewell — "  shook  his  raiment,  and  said  to  them,  Your 
blood  be  on  your  own  heads" — this  awful  expression  being 
taken  from  Ezekiel.  He  had  done  his  utmost,  had  left  no 
means  unapplied,  had  been  "  instant  in  season  and  out  of 
season,"  and  had  brought  to  bear  upon  them  every  form  of 
argument  which  prophecy  contained.  Therefore  he  could 
do  no  more ;  the  responsibility  rested  with  themselves, 
and  he  could  only  weep  over  their  infatuation  and  ruin. 
"  I  am  clear,"  he  adds — no  guilt  attaches  to  me,  in  God's 
strength  I  have  done  my  duty — u  from  henceforth  I  will 
go  unto  the  Gentiles ; "  that  is,  to  the  Gentiles  in  that  city, 
or,  if  the  comma  be  erased — With  a  good  conscience,  and 
having  been  rejected  by  you,  I  will  go,  or  feel  at  perfect 
liberty  to  go,  to  the  Gentiles. 

Accordingly  the  apostle  left  the  synagogue,  resorted 
no  more  to  it,  but  selected  as  his  place  of  preaching  the 
house  of  a  proselyte — Justus — in  the  immediate  vicinity. 
Whether  the  Jew  Aquila  was  converted  at  this  time,  and 
whether  Paul  ceased  also  to  lodge  with  him,  we  know  not. 
But  his  labours  had  not  been  without  fruit — "the  chief 
ruler  of  the  synagogue  believed  on  the  Lord  with  all  his 
house;"  and  "many  of  the  Corinthians  hearing" — not 
that  Crispus  had  become  a  believer,  but  hearing  the  gos- 
pejl — "believed,  and  were  baptized" — probably  by  Silas 
and  Timothy;  for  the  apostle  himself,  as  he  tells  us, 
baptized  only  Crispus,  and  Gaius,  and  the  household  of 


250  PAUL  AT   CORINTH. 

Stephanas;    fearing   lest  it  should  be  surmised   that  he 
liked  to  make  men  Paulites  as  well  as  Christians. 

It  seems  plain  from  the  context  that  Paul  now  appre- 
hended danger  —  such  danger  as  had  assailed  him  at 
Antioch,  Thessalonica,  and  Berea.  He  may  have  either 
seen  the  symptoms  of  it — heard  the  low  moaning  of  the 
ocean  before  the  storm — or  he  may  have  ascertained  that 
his  old  enemies  were  again  upon  his  track.  Having  missed 
him  in  his  fortnight's  stay  at  Athens,  they  might  dis- 
cover him  in  Corinth ;  and  the  fear  of  this  danger  may 
have  quickened  his  desire  to  revisit  Macedonia,  into  which 
he  had  been  specially  summoned.  At  all  events,  the  apostle 
had  some  grounds  of  alarm,  some  apprehensions  of  a  con- 
spiracy, which  induced  him  to  think  of  leaving  the  city. 
There  are  moments  when  the  bravest  spirits  quail  from 
reaction.  Elijah,  after  confronting  the  power  of  the  king- 
dom, matching  himself,  unaided  and  alone,  against  the 
national  idolatry — a  single  man  against  eight  hundred 
priests  and  prophets  of  Baal — suddenly  lost  courage  when 
he  heard  of  Jezebel's  resentment,  and  for  fear  of  one  woman 
"went  for  his  life  to  Beersheba,"  and,  lying  under  a  broom 
in  the  desert,  sank  into  such  despondency  as  to  say — "  Now, 
0  Lord,  take  away  my  life,  for  I  am  not  better  than  my 
fathers."  The  vision  vouchsafed  to  Paul  could  not,  at  all 
events,  be  unnecessary :  the  Lord — Jesus,  whom  he  served 
and  whom  he  preached — appeared  to  him  as  at  Jerusalem, 
and  said — "Be  not  afraid,  but  speak,  and  hold  not  thy 
peace."  This  charge  implies  that  the  apostle  had  some 
misgivings,  but  he  was  at  once  reassured  by  the  pledge — 


DIVINE  PROTECTION.  251 

"  For  I  am  with  thee,  and  no  man  shall  set  on  thee  to 
hurt  thee;  for  I  have  much  people  in  this  city;"  much 
people — not  already  converted,  but  to  be  certainly  won  over 
to  the  gospel  through  Paul's  preaching.  "I  am  with  thee" 
— a  repetition  of  the  original  promise  to  the  eleven ;  and  no 
higher  pledge  could  be  offered.  "I  am  with  thee" — I, 
the  almighty  and  all-present  Living  One— a  light  to  cheer 
him  and  a  shield  to  protect  him,  a  power  to  clear  up  his 
path  and  a  blessing  to  crown  his  labours.  "  With  thee ;" 
not  away  when  expected;  not  a  periodical  guard,  absent 
when  needed — but  with  him  always  and  everywhere. 
So  that  under  this  encouragement,  and  with  these  hopes, 
"  he  continued  a  year  and  six  months,"  and  during  all  that 
period  was  teaching  the  word  of  God  among  them — not 
any  theories  of  his  own,  but  the  divine  record  of  salvation 
through  the  blood  of  Christ.  The  history  in  the  Acts 
does  not  contain  any  further  account  of  the  theme  and 
style  of  the  apostle's  preaching  at  Corinth ;  but  his  two 
epistles  to  this  church  afford  us  the  requisite  information. 
He  refers  in  these  letters  again  and  again  to  his  subjects  of 
illustration,  and  to  his  feelings  and  circumstances. 

And  first,  he  fully  and  over  again  states  his  unvarying 
theme  to  have  been  the  cross  of  Christ — "For  I  determined 
not  to  know  anything  among  you,  save  Jesus  Christ, 
and  Him  crucified."  More  especially  and  in  detail — 
"  Moreover,  brethren,  I  declare  unto  you  the  gospel 
which  I  preached  unto  you,  which  also  ye  have  received, 
and  wherein  ye  stand :  by  which  also  ye  are  saved,  if  ye 
keep  in  memory  what  I  preached  unto  you,  unless  ye  have 
believed  in  vain :  for  I  delivered  unto  you  first  of  all  that 


252  PAUL  AT  CORINTH. 

which  I  also  received,  how  that  Christ  died  for  our  sins 
according  to  the  scriptures ;  and  that  He  was  buried,  and 
that  He  rose  again  the  third  day  according  to  the  scrip- 
tures ;  and  that  He  was  seen  of  Cephas,  then  of  the  twelve : 
after  that  He  was  seen  of  above  five  hundred  brethren  at 
once ;  of  whom  the  greater  part  remain  unto  this  present, 
but  some  are  fallen  asleep.  After  that  He  was  seen  of 
James  5  then  of  all  the  apostles.  And  last  of  all  he  was 
seen  of  me  also,  as  of  one  born  out  of  due  time.  For  I 
am  the  least  of  the  apostles,  that  am  not  meet  to  be  called 
an  apostle,  because  I  persecuted  the  church  of  God.  But 
by  the  grace  of  God  I  am  what  I  am :  and  His  grace  which 
was  bestowed  upon  me  was  not  in  vain ;  but  I  laboured 
more  abundantly  than  they  all :  yet  not  I,  but  the  grace 
of  God  which  was  with  me.  Therefore,  whether  it  were 
I  or  they,  so  we  preached,  and  so  ye  believed." 

Such  was  the  burden  of  the  apostle's  message,  which  he 
delivered  to  them  first  of  all — first  in  time,  and  first  also 
in  importance.  His  first  and  foremost  theme  at  Corinth 
was  the  death  of  Christ ;  for  His  death  truly  is  the  central 
fact  of  the  gospel.  What  He  taught  prepared  for  it,  and 
His  power  in  glory  applies  its  results.  He  came  down 
not  simply  to  instruct,  but  also  to  atone ;  not  only  to  reveal 
the  will  of  His  Father,  but  to  offer  propitiation  for  the  sin 
of  the  world.  No  matter  what  revelations  He  has  given 
us,  if  guilt  remain  unexpiated,  and  the  sentence  of  death 
unrepealed.  He  took  upon  Him  the  nature  of  man,  that 
He  might  possess  the  capability  of  dying  for  man.  And 
in  man's  place,  and  under  his  legal  liabilities,  He  did  die 
— obeyed  the  law  and  endured  its  penalty.  What  more 


CENTRAL  TRUTH.  253 

glorious  message  than  this  could  the  apostle  proclaim? 
— God's  infinite  pity  for  us ;  His  unspeakable  gift  of  His 
Son ;  the  Lord  Jesus,  in  unfathomable  grace,  taking  upon 
Him  our  nature,  and  suffering  and  dying  in  order  to 
deliver  us  from  the  curse  of  that  law  which  we  had  broken, 
Himself  yielding  to  it  a  voluntary  and  perfect  obedience 
and  enduring  its  sentence  of  death. 

The  apostle  preached  that  Jesus  Christ  died  for  our  sins 
— on  account  of  them,  to  make  expiation  for  them.  And 
why  should  He  die  if  His  death  had  not  been  indispen- 
sable? for,  to  use  His  own  figure — "Except  a  corn  of 
wheat  fall  into  the  ground  and  die,  it  abideth  alone ;  but 
if  it  die,  it  bringeth  forth  much  fruit."  There  is  no  har- 
vest without  previous  death — the  seed  dies,  and  by  its 
decomposition  nourishes  the  life  of  the  future  plant.  We 
stop  not  to  argue  the  necessity  of  Christ's  death  out  of  any 
abstract  speculation  on  the  nature  of  God,  the  evil  of  sin, 
or  the  principles  of  the  divine  administration.  Yet,  may 
it  not  be  said  that  a  distinction  must  ever  be  maintained 
between  sin  and  righteousness — that  the  majesty  of  law 
must  be  vindicated — that  a  separation  must  be  made 
between  the  perfect  and  the  transgressors — that  statute 
must  not  be  weakened  by  repeated  acts  of  mercy  to  its 
violators — and  that  the  unchanging  holiness  of  God  must 
for  ever  reign  paramount  in  all  His  ways  and  works? 
Normal  procedure  must  have  involved  the  sinner  in  ruin ; 
but  the  abnormal  process  of  an  innocent  one  self-offered  in 
room  of  the  guilty,  satisfies  the  claims  of  justice,  exhibits 
the  rectitude  of  the  Judge,  and  manifests  His  compassion 


254  PAUL  AT   CORINTH. 

for  the  fallen,  on  whom,  "but  for  His  infinite  love,  the 
original  penalty  must  have  been  inflicted. 

And  Christ  died  for  our  sins  according  to  the  scriptures — 
the  Bible  contains  clear  information  on  the  subject.  It 
tells  us  that  though  man  has  incurred  the  penalty,  there  is 
mercy  for  him — that  mercy,  however,  being  always  con- 
nected with  the  death  of  a  victim  in  his  room.  "  Without 
the  shedding  of  blood  there  was  no  remission,"  under  the 
old  economy.  Pardon  is  declared  to  be  based  on  sacrifice — 
"  The  priest  shall  make  atonement  for  his  sin,  and  it  shall 
be  forgiven  him."  The  sacrificial  type,  while  it  exhibited 
the  penalty  in  the  vicarious  infliction  of  it,  not  only  showed 
how  deliverance  was  to  be  attained,  but  also  predicted  the 
atoning  death  of  Calvary.  The  phraseology  of  the  Old 
Testament  is  employed  to  describe  Christ's  death  in  the 
New  Testament.  It  was  a  sacrifice;  violent  death — a 
"body  broken ;"  voluntary  death — "He  gave  Himself;" 
vicarious  death  —  "the  just  for  the  unjust;"  a  death 
endured  as  an  expiation — "  blood  shed  for  remission  of  sins 
unto  many."  Had  not  such  an  agony  been  necessary,  why 
should  it  have  been  endured?  Of  other  plans  possible 
to  infinite  wisdom,  this  was  preferred  as  being  the  best  to 
illustrate  the  divine  character,  maintain  the  authority  of 
the  divine  law,  show  the  true  evil  of  sin,  secure  the  alle- 
giance and  harmony  of  the  universe,  and  provide  salvation 
for  mankind. 

It  is  a  cheering  truth  that  Jesus  endured  the  penalty — 
justice  being  diverted  from  its  natural  course,  and  falling 
upon  the  surety ;  so  that  the  original  transgressor  escapes. 


MISREPRESENTATIONS   OF  THE  ATONEMENT.         255 

And  why  should  this  procedure  stir  up  such  hostility? 
why  should  so  many  men  be  so  anxious  to  caricature  it, 
and  disavow  their  belief  in  it  ?  Thus  one,  and  he  a  trans- 
atlantic Unitarian,  describes  it  as  if  the  Creator,  "  in  order 
to  pardon  His  own  children,  erected  a  gallows  in  the  midst 
of  the  universe,  and  publicly  executed  upon  it,  in  the 
room  of  the  offenders,  an  infinite  being,  the  partaker  of 
His  own  supreme  Divinity."  Another  pictures  it  as  if 
Saul,  missing  his  stroke  at  David,  "  had,  in  disappointed 
fury,  dashed  his  javelin  at  his  own  son  Jonathan."  A  third 
affirms  that  the  atonement  likens  God  to  some  heathen 
divinity  who  must  be  appeased — "a  thought  which  refutes 
itself  by  the  very  indignation  it  calls  up  in  the  human 
bosom."  "A  relic  of  heathen  conception,"  says  one;  "an 
elaborate  process  of  self-confutation,"  cries  another.  That 
the  just  should  suffer,  even  though  willingly,  for  the  unjust, 
is  not  justice,  one  opponent  asserts ;  and  his  fellow  responds 
that  a  man's  debt  may  be  freely  forgiven,  and  why  not 
God's?  All  these  objections  appear  to  us  frivolous  and 
baseless.  The  language  of  scripture  gives  them  no  coun- 
tenance. It  declares  that  God  is  infinite  love  and  purity ; 
that  He  vindicates  His  righteousness  while  He  extends 
His  mercy,  and  upholds  His  law  while  He  forgives  its 
unworthy  violators.  We  say  not  that  He  is  vengeful,  and 
strikes  wildly  in  His  anger ;  but  that,  in  the  vindication  of 
His  government,  He  consults  the  happiness  of  His  universe. 
For  if  His  law  be  wantonly  broken,  and  the  criminals  are 
treated  quite  as  the  unfallen  and  loyal,  then  it  might  be 
surmised  that  moral  distinctions  were  obliterated.  The 
vicarious  and  willing  suffering  of  Jesus  is  not  inconsistent 


256  PAUL  AT  CORINTH. 

with  highest  equity,  though  human  analogy  fails  to  illus- 
trate it ;  and  if  language  have  meaning,  the  phraseology  of 
the  New  Testament  declares  that  Christ  died  as  a  substi- 
tute. Are  we  not  "  healed  by  His  stripes,"  "  bought  with 
a  price" — His  "precious  blood;7'  "redeemed  from  the 
curse  of  the  law,  Christ  being  made  a  curse  for  us?"  The 
plan  arose  in  love,  and  in  love  was  perfected,  when  the 
Father  "  spared  not  His  own  Son,  but  delivered  Him  up 
for  us  all."  The  distinctive  feature  in  the  atonement  is 
not  the  unjust  sentence  which  led  to  it,  nor  its  ignominy  or 
external  agony  ;  the  nakedness  and  nails  of  the  cross,  nor 
the  personal  virtue  of  the  sufferer,  though  it  shone  in 
bright  serenity;  nor  the  great  penal  example  which  it 
afforded — but  the  representative  character  or  position  of 
Him  who  died — the  Son  of  God  who  "  gave  Himself  for 
us  an  offering  and  a  sacrifice  to  God."  0,  this  is  the 
precious  truth  which  lifts  the  burden  from  the  conscience, 
and  leads  us  to  adore  and  serve  the  Lamb. 

"  Talk  they  of  morals  ?     0,  thou  bleeding  Love, 
The  grand  morality  is  love  of  Thee." 

In  connection  with  the  death  of  Christ,  the  ordinance 
which  commemorates  it  was  enjoined  upon  the  Corinthian 
church :  "  For  I  have  received  of  the  Lord  that  which  also 
I  delivered  unto  you,  that  the  Lord  Jesus,  the  same  night 
in  which  He  was  betrayed,  took  bread :  and  when  He  had 
given  thanks,  He  brake  it,  and  said,  Take,  eat ;  this  is  my 
body,  which  is  broken  for  you :  this  do  in  remembrance  of 
me.  After  the  same  manner  also  He  took  the  cup,  when 
He  had  supped,  saying,  This  cup  is  the  New  Testament 


BUEIAL  OF  JESUS.  257 

in  my  blood :  this  do  ye,  as  oft  as  ye  drink  it,  in  remem- 
brance of  me."  Paul  was  not  present  at  the  first  celebration, 
but  the  account  which  he  gave  them  he  received  of  the 
Lord — by  immediate  revelation  from  Him.  The  institu- 
tion vividly  sets  before  the  mind  the  love  and  the  death  of 
the  Lord  Jesus — not  His  birth  or  His  life,  His  miracles 
or  His  teaching;  but  His  death,  and  that  death  as  the 
one  source  of  salvation.  It  is  a  communion  with  Him 
and  with  one  another  over  the  emblems  of  His  suffering 
humanity,  and  a  eucharist  or  scene  of  devout  thanksgiving 
— an  anticipation  of  the  gratitude  and  song  of  heaven; 
but  more  especially  is  it  a  feast,  in  which,  as  we  "  eat  of 
that  bread  and  drink  of  that  cup,  we  do  show  the  Lord's 
death  till  He  come."  Doctrine  is  presented  in  vivid 
symbol,  and  participation  is  imaged  as  the  enjoyment  of  a 
banquet.  And  yet  the  Corinthians  profaned  that  ordi- 
nance or  the  accompanying  love-feast — one  being  hungry, 
another  being  drunken. 

Farther,  the  apostle  preached  that  "  Christ  was  buried." 
Before  the  synagogue  in  the  Pisidian  Antioch  he  had 
also  dwelt  on  this,  declaring  that  "they  laid  Him  in  a 
sepulchre,"  but  yet  that  "  He  saw  no  corruption,"  as  had 
been  predicted  of  Him  by  the  royal  psalmist.  He  was 
laid  in  a  borrowed  tomb,  and  in  one  which  had  not  been 
previously  occupied.  Nay,  according  to  the  prophet, 
11  He  made  His  grave  with  the  wicked  and  with  the  rich 
in  His  death  ;"  or  rather,  more  literally,  "  there  had  been 
appointed  to  Him  His  grave  with  the  wicked,  but  He 
was  with  a  rich  man  in  His  dead  state:"  that  is,  three 
tombs  had  been  prepared  for  the  three  men  that  day  to 


'UNIVERSITY' 


258  PAUL  AT  CORINTH. 

be  executed,'  for  any  one  dying  under  sentence  of  law 
could  not  be  buried  in  the  sepulchre  of  his  fathers.  But 
"a  rich  man  of  Arimathea,  named  Joseph,  begged  the 
body  of  Jesus,  and  laid  it  in  his  own  new  tomb,"  "  wherein 
was  never  man  yet  laid."  Thus  prophecy  was  fulfilled, 
and  the  truth  of  the  resurrection  confirmed.  As  we  have 
seen  under  the  last  head — "  Paul  at  Athens" — the  tomb  of 
Jesus  was  guarded,  and  the  story  of  the  guard  was  an 
inconsistent  falsehood.  It  was  a  solitary  tomb,  occupied  by 
its  first  tenant,  and  disputes  about  identity  were,  therefore, 
precluded.  The  burial  proved  also  the  reality  of  the  death, 
and  the  resuscitation  was,  therefore,  a  resurrection.  He 
left  the  "linen  clothes  lying,  and  the  napkin  that  was 
about  His  head,  not  lying  with  the  linen  clothes,  but  wrapt 
together  in  a  place  by  itself" — a  proof  of  His  calmness  and 
composure  as  He  rose  from  the  realms  of  the  dead.  The 
act  of  rising  was  seen  by  no  one ;  but  the  tomb  was  found 
empty,  and  ample  proof  has  been  vouchsafed.  The  last 
honours  were  paid  in  haste  to  His  corpse,  and  the  entomb- 
ment was  a  melancholy  deed  to  all  concerned  in  it.  Be- 
cause they  "trusted  that  it  had  been  He  which  should 
have  redeemed  Israel,"  the  two  disciples  on  the  road  to 
Emmaus  were  "sad" — all  their  prospects  had  been  dashed. 

But  the  apostle  farther  preached  that — 

"He  rose  again  the  third  day,  according  to  the  scriptures." 
The  proof  which  the  apostle  refers  to  is  that  of  testimony—- 
the testimony  of  credible  witnesses,  so  placed  that  they  could 
not  be  imposed  upon,  and  so  honest  that  they  could  not 
stoop  to  deceive  others.  He  appeared  to  them  in  different 
places,  and  at  different  times,  the  variety  of  the  appear- 


APPEARANCES  OF  THE  RISEN  MESSIAH.  259 

ances  itself  affording  evidence  of  their  truth.  A  man  in 
one  position  may  be  deceived,  but  a  number  of  men  in 
separate  circumstances  cannot  surely  be  all  duped  in  succes- 
sion. The  apostle  selects  a  few  of  these  appearances,  and 
some  of  them  are  not  recorded  in  the  gospels.  "  He  was 
seen  of  Cephas" — Peter,  who  had  run  to  the  tomb  and 
found  it  empty,  but  did  not  meet  the  Lord  there,  as  did 
Mary  Magdalene — seen  of  him  probably  in  the  forenoon  of 
the  day  on  which  He  rose.  Peter  had  been  singled  out 
for  the  kind  message — "  Go,  tell  my  disciples  and  Peter;" 
and  perhaps  he  was  the  first  of  the  apostles  to  whom 
singly  the  Lord  showed  Himself.  "  Then  of  the  twelve  " — 
the  familiar  round  number  being  employed  to  designate 
the  eleven ;  to  the  ten,  Thomas  being  absent,  He  appeared 
on  the  first  day  of  His  resurrection,  and  eight  days  after 
to  the  whole  eleven,  vouchsafing  to  Thomas  the  palpable 
proofs  of  His  identity.  The  next  appearance  is  not  referred 
to  in  the  gospels,  but  implied,  and  it  is  thus  described — 
"  After  that  He  was  seen  of  above  five  hundred  brethren  at 
once ;  of  whom  the  greater  part  remain  unto  this  present, 
but  some  are  fallen  asleep."  This  large  assemblage  was 
specially  honoured,  the  only  assembly  of  the  size  on  earth 
which  has  enjoyed  the  singular  felicity.  Probably  in  some 
remote  spot,  some  retreat  among  the  mountains  of  Galilee, 
did  the  spectacle  greet  the  eyes  of  the  five  hundred,  many 
of  whom  had  known  Him  in  Nazareth,  heard  Him  in  Caper- 
naum, and  followed  Him  by  the  shores  of  Tiberias.  Was 
it  possible  that  this  whole  company  were  cheated  by  some 
hallucination,  or  made  to  believe  that  there  was  among 
them  He  who  had  been  executed  in  the  capital — the  true 


260  PAUL  AT  CORINTH. 

and  loving  teacher,  the  illustrious  wonder-worker  at  whose 
word  thousands  had  been  feasted,  and  every  form  of 
disease  had  vanished  ?  The  apostle  adds,  "  After  that  He 
was  seen  of  James" — some  special  manifestation — and 
"then  of  all  the  apostles,"  prior  to  His  ascension. 

Such  is  a  summary  of  the  proof  which  the  apostle 
adduced  in  his  preaching.  All  these  men  bare  witness  to 
the  resurrection,  and  they  were  worthy  of  credit,  as  they 
only  testified  what  they  had  seen,  and  they  could  surely 
trust  their  own  senses. 

Now  the  resurrection  proves  the  Messiahship,  for  it  not 
only  verified  prediction,  but  proved  that  Jesus  was  all  in 
person  and  commission  that  He  professed  to  be.  If  He 
rose  again  by  His  own  power,  then  indeed  He  was  God, 
and  if  the  Father  raised  Him,  Jehovah  could  not  accredit 
a  deceiver.  He  was  crucified  under  a  charge  that  He 
called  Himself  the  Son  of  God,  and  He  was  "  declared  to 
be  the  Son  of  God  with  power,  by  His  resurrection  from 
the  dead."  Put  to  death  as  an  impostor,  He  rose  again 
in  token  that  He  was  "  the  faithful  and  true  Witness." 
"  If  Christ  be  not  risen,  then  is  our  preaching  vain,  and 
your  faith  also  is  vain."  It  also  proved  His  death  to  be 
a  perfect  atonement.  The  debt  was  cancelled  when  the 
surety  was  released.  He  died  to  satisfy  the  law,  and  rose 
again  as  a  proof  that  His  death  was  all  which  the  law 
demanded,  and  that  the  law  so  satisfied  will  not  demand 
another  victim,  or  exact  another  penalty.  We  point  to 
His  empty  tomb  as  evidence  of  His  completed  atonement. 
On  the  other  hand,  "  if  Christ  be  not  raised,  your  faith  is 
vain,  ye  are  yet  in  your  sins;"  there  has  been  no  expiation, 


SIMPLE  PREACHING.  261 

and  there  can  be  no  forgiveness.  And  the  apostle,  in  the 
sequel  of  his  argument,  maintains  that  Christ's  resurrec- 
tion secures  that  of  His  people — "  Christ  the  first-fruits, 
afterward  they  that  are  Christ's  at  His  coming."  And 
they  are  raised  in  incorruption,  in  glory  and  in  power,  pos- 
sessed of  spiritual  bodies,  bearing  the  image  of  the  last  and 
heavenly  Adam,  fitted  to  dwell  in  a  world  which  "  flesh 
and  blood  cannot  inherit" — the  sting  having  been  extracted 
from  death,  and  the  grave  spoiled  of  its  victory.  "If 
Christ  be  not  raised,  then  they  also  which  are  fallen  asleep 
in  Christ  are  perished." 

Further,  when  at  Corinth,  the  apostle  insisted  on  the 
plainest  truths—"  And  I,  brethren,  could  not  speak  unto 
you  as  unto  spiritual,  but  as  unto  carnal,  even  as  unto  babes 
in  Christ.  I  have  fed  you  with  milk,  and  not  with  meat ; 
for  hitherto  ye  were  not  able  to  bear  it,  neither  yet  now 
are  ye  able."  He  did  not  stretch  away  into  the  region  of 
ultimate  truths,  did  not  prelect  on  the  "  deep  things  of 
God,"  though  his  great  mind  had  strong  likings  for  the 
profound,  and  he  loved  to  tread  on  the  borders  of  the 
incomprehensible.  But  he  restrained  himself,  and  set 
before  the  Corinthian  minds  the  simplest  truths,  the 
clearest  facts  of  redemption.  He  did  not  amaze  them 
with  compacted  argument,  or  dazzle  them  with  glowing 
imagery,  or  transport  them  with  rhetorical  displays.  Man's 
sin  and  Christ's  salvation  were  the  twin-truths  which  he 
illustrated,  without  bewildering  them  with  the  divine 
purpose  of  a  past  eternity,  or  the  divine  developments  of 
an  eternity  to  come.  He  addressed  the  Corinthians  out  of 
the  fulness  of  his  own  soul,  uttered  before  them  all  his 


262  PAUL  AT  CORINTH. 

convictions,  spoke  from  the  heart,  in  the  hope  of  reaching 
the  heart. 

Nay  more,  the  apostle  preached  at  Corinth  the  plainest 
truths  with  the  utmost  simplicity — "And  I,  brethren,  when 
I  came  to  you,  came  not  with  excellency  of  speech,  or  of 
wisdom,  declaring  unto  you  the  testimony  of  God ;  for  I 
determined  not  to  know  anything  among  you,  save  Jesus 
Christ,  and  Him  crucified.  And  my  speech  and  my 
preaching  was  not  with  enticing  words  of  man's  wisdom, 
but  in  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  of  power;  that 
your  faith  should  not  stand  in  the  wisdom  of  men,  but  in 
the  power  of  God."  The  apostle,  then,  did  not  repeat  at 
Corinth  the  kind  of  discourse  which  he  had  tried  at  Athens ; 
did  not,  as  he  might  say  of  himself  in  his  boyhood — 

"  Having  lost  one  shaft, 
I  shot  another  of  the  self-same  flight 
The  self-same  way,  with  more  advised  watch, 
To  find  the  other  forth." 

No,  he  preached  the  cross,  and  that  alone,  and  having 
secured  such  results,  having  gained  so  many  who  were 
"  epistles  of  Christ,"  he  was  anxious  that  no  other  form  or 
theme  of  teaching  should  be  introduced — "According  to 
the  grace  of  God  which  is  given  unto  me,  as  a  wise  master- 
builder,  I  have  laid  the  foundation,  and  another  buildeth 
thereon.  But  let  every  man  take  heed  how  he  buildeth 
thereupon.  For  other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than  that 
is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ."  That  foundation  is  stable 
and  sure,  and  will  support  the  edifice.  The  truth  concerning 
Christ  does  not  grow  old  any  more  than  creation.  It  is 
still  fresh  and  mighty,  new  to  every  succeeding  age  which 


PLAIN   STYLE.  263 

receives  it,  and  is  ever  to  be  kept  free  from  contamination 
or  foreign  admixtures.  Every  doctrine  must  be  homo- 
geneous with  the  great  central  truth,  of  the  same  nature 
with  it,  and  dependent  upon  it.  He  says,  "I  determined" — 
made  a  formal  resolution,  "  not  to  know  anything  among 
you,  save  Jesus  Christ;"  such  a  determination  seeming  to 
imply  that  he  was  under  temptation  to  waver,  and  to  mingle 
up  other  allied  topics  in  his  addresses,  and  that  he  may  have 
felt  such  a  temptation  in  Athens,  when  he  spoke  to  its  wise 
men.  But  he  had  vowed  within  himself,  that  at  Corinth 
the  one  topic  should  occupy  him,  though  it  should  appear 
"  foolishness ; "  for,  by  the  preaching  of  that  very  foolish- 
ness, they  who  believed  were  saved  by  God.  He  also  refers 
to  his  style  more  especially,  as  it  may  have  been  brought 
in  contrast  with  that  of  the  "  eloquent"  Apollos,  and  may 
have  been  compared  with  it  to  the  apostle's  disadvantage. 
He  spoke  without  the  aids  and  ornaments  of  rhetoric.  He 
placed  the  gospel  before  them  in  pure  light.  A  showy 
eloquence  might  suit  the  degenerate  taste  of  the  city,  but 
the  apostle  would  not  indulge  it.  He  wished  to  gain  men 
to  the  truth  for  the  pure  love  of  it,  and  not  for  any  attrac- 
tions which  might  be  thrown  around  it.  He  would  not 
throw  a  rainbow  over  the  fountain  of  life,  but  wished  that 
thirst  and  not  curious  gaze  should  bring  men  to  it.  He 
would  not  charm  them  by  his  oratory,  lest  some  inferior 
motive  should  influence  their  conviction.  He  would  not 
put  himself  in  the  foreground,  and  leave  his  Master  in  the 
shadow.  He  was  anxious  that  men  should  not  praise  the 
preacher  to  the  neglect  of  his  sermon.  Himself  was 
nothing,  Christ  and  His  cross  were  everything. 


264  PAUL  AT  CORINTH. 

Nor  did  he  array  the  gospel  in  the  garb  of  wisdom — philo- 
sophy. It  was,  in  truth,  the  highest  wisdom — true  in  its 
views  of  man  and  God,  and  of  the  relation  between  them. 
Its  theology  is  just,  for  it  reveals  a  perfect  God,  and  its 
ethics  fit  into  man's  nature.  Its  God  is  one  to  be  believed 
in,  loved,  and  served,  faith  in  such  a  God  being  productive 
of  peace  and  happiness ;  and  its  obligations  so  suit  them- 
selves to  us,  that  we  feel  their  equity,  and  cannot  refuse 
them,  assured  that  obedience  will  train  us  to  the  high  end  of 
our  being.  Given,  man's  nature  as  it  is — what  other  creed 
so  speaks  home  to  its  spiritual  instincts  and  satisfies  them, 
and  what  other  code  of  duties  so  approves  itself  to  his 
reason,  or  so  brings  him  under  its  imperative  sway,  by 
simply  quickening  his  consciousness  of  its  authority  and 
truth?  But  the  apostle  did  not  proclaim  it  in  the  language 
of  philosophy,  did  not  bury  it  under  rich  and  redundant 
illustration,  did  not  employ  pretentious  terms,  or  borrow  the 
phrases  of  the  schools.  He  spoke  to  them  in  the  tongue 
of  common  life — that  which  they  most  easily  understood : 
"  Which  things  also  we  speak,  not  in  the  words  which 
man's  wisdom  teacheth,  but  which  the  Holy  Ghost  teach- 
eth."  When  a  man  is  in  danger,  the  simplest  cry  is  the 
most  significant  to  him.  But  this  example  set  by  the 
apostle  has  been  often  lost  sight,  of,  and  the  Bible  has 
been  made  to  speak  the  nomenclature  of  human  systems : 
sometimes  Aristotelian,  sometimes  Platonist,  and  some- 
times modern  antichristian  errors.  Thus  the  combination 
of  two  natures  in  the  Redeemer  has  been  profanely  taken 
as  a  mystic  delineation  of  pantheism — the  union  of  Creator 
and  creature  j  eternal  life  has  been  explained  to  be,  not  the 


A   DARK  CLOUD.  265 

immortal  happiness  of  the  individual,  but  only  the  duration 
of  the  species ;  and  the  Trinity  has  been  degraded  into  a 
metaphysical  symbol  shadowing  out  the  subjective,  the 
objective,  and  the  relation  between  them,  or  the  thinker, 
the  thought,  and  the  link  that  connects  them. 

To  dwell  upon  the  central  fact  of  Christianity — salvation 
by  the  cross;  to  connect  all  truth  with  it,  and  trace  all 
blessings  from  it;  to  present  it  as  the  living  source  of 
hope,  and  the  one  stimulus  to  duty,  bringing  with  it 
pressure  of  obligation  and  ability  to  comply ;  to  put  forth 
every  power  in  doing  this  from  love  to  Christ  and  love  to 
souls;  and  to  do  it  all  the  while  in  earnest  simplicity, 
affectionate  fidelity,  and  constant  dependence  on  Him  who 
"  giveth  the  increase  " — that  is  to  preach  like  Paul. 

The  apostle  when  at  Corinth  was  in  a  state  of  great 
dejection — "  in  weakness,  and  in  fear,  and  in  much  trem- 
bling." It  was  a  dark  and  desponding  mood,  to  which  a 
variety  of  causes  might  contribute.  His  signal  failure  at 
Athens  must  have  deeply  vexed  him,  and  he  must  have 
had  nervous  apprehensions  as  to  his  success  at  Corinth. 
The  scenes  were  new,  and  he  trembled  at  his  responsi- 
bilities. His  physical  constitution  was  not  robust,  and  the 
scourging  at  Philippi  may  have  seriously  impaired  it.  All 
men  of  such  susceptibility  as  Paul  are  liable  to  depressions, 
and  when  they  are  exhausted  by  exertion,  and  find  their 
great  wishes  unrealized,  the  sky  darkens  over  them,  and 
'"^xthey  sink  into  themselves  with  grief  and  alarm.  For  some 
weighty  reason,  implying  vexation  or  difficulty,  the  apostle 
at  this  time  put  himself  under  a  vow,  which  lasted  till 
he  set  sail  from  Cenchrea.  It  could  scarcely  be  the  formal 


266  PAUL  AT   CORINTH. 

vow  of  the  Nazarite,  but  it  may  have  been  one  of  similar 
self-denial  and  restraint,  his  hair  being  all  the  while 
allowed  to  grow  in  token  of  his  entire  subjection  to  the 
will,  and  devotion  to  the  service  of  God.  Such  vows  were 
taken,  Josephus  says,  "  by  those  who  were  afflicted  with 
disease,  or  any  other  distress."  The  incident  shows  that 
Paul  during  his  stay  at  Corinth  was  in  some  critical  state 
— infirm  and  nervous — and  filled  with  unwonted  agitation. 
His  enemies  at  Corinth  said — "  His  bodily  presence  is 
weak,"  and  perhaps  he  was  smarting  at  the  same  time 
from  the  prickings  of  the  thorn  in  the  flesh,  and  the  buffet- 
ings  of  the  messenger  of  Satan.  Still,  on  a  review  of  his 
frailties,  he  could  say — "Truly  the  signs  of  an  apostle 
were  wrought  among  you  in  all  patience,  in  signs,  in 
wonders,  and  mighty  deeds."  For  the  preaching  of  the 
apostle  was  sustained  and  confirmed  by  supernatural  attes- 
tation. The  Master  was  with  him,  as  He  had  been  at 
Iconium,  giving  "  testimony  to  the  word  of  His  grace." 

The  preaching  of  the  cross  produced  great  results  in 
dissipated  Corinth — among  the  chief  of  sinners.  After 
enumerating  some  hideous  and  revolting  classes  of  sinners, 
he  says  to  them — "  Such  were  some  of  you,"  vilest  of 
the  vile,  "  but  ye  are  washed."  Athens  in  its  wisdom  had 
resisted  the  gospel,  but  Corinth  in  its  depravity  had  received 
it.  Their  sins  became  bitter  to  them,  as — 

"  The  sweetest  honey 
Is  loathsome  in  its  own  deliciousness." 

Boasted  philosophy  closes  the  soul  more  effectually  against 
Christ  than  notorious  vice.  The  heart  comes  to  know  its 
burden,  and  longs  for  deliverance;  but  such  philosophy 


JEWISH   OUTBREAK — GALLIC.  267 

tells  it  that  no  deliverance  has  been  provided  for  it,  for  its 
plan  is  not  in  accordance  with  "  wisdom."  It  will  not  listen 
in  docility,  but  rejects  whatever  is  not  in  harmony  with 
its  own  prepossessions.  No  physician  in  Europe  above 
forty  years  of  age  believed  in  Harvey's  discovery  of  the 
circulation  of  the  blood.  They  had  made  up  their  minds 
that  it  could  not  be  true,  and  nothing  could  convince  them 
to  the  contrary.  Not  a  few  in  the  apostle's  days,  as  at  all 
times,  preferred  opinion  to  truth,  and  would  not  have  their 
cherished  notions  disturbed  or  rectified.  The  scribes  refused 
Christ,  but  sinners  accepted  him.  Caiaphas  doomed  Him, 
while  the  labouring  and  heavy-laden  found  rest  in  Him. 
Whence  hath  He  this  wisdom,  cried  some  in  scorn,  but  the 
stilled  demoniac  sat  at  His  feet.  Pilate's  wife  dreamed  of 
Him,  but  the  Magdalene  clung  to  His  knees. 

The  successes  of  the  apostle,  it  may  be  added  in  conclu- 
sion, stirred  up  his  old  enemies  at  Corinth,  and  "the 
Jews  made  insurrection  with  one  accord  against  Paul,  and 
brought  him  to  the  judgment-seat"  of  Junius  Annaeus 
Gallio  the  proconsul,  Achaia  having  been  a  few  years 
before  handed  over  to  the  senate  by  the  Emperor  Claudius. 
They  charged  Paul  with  breaking  the  law — with  teach- 
ing men  "to  worship  God  contrary  to  the  law" — the 
charge  being  designedly  a  vague  one,  brought  before  an 
inexperienced  governor.  Gallio  would  not  listen  to  the 
accusation,  and,  as  the  apostle  was  on  the  point  of  reply- 
ing, he  said — "  If  it  were  a  matter  of  wrong  or  wicked 
lewdness  " — were  it  really  an  offence  against  the  state  or 
against  morality,  "  0  ye  Jews,  reason  would  that  I  should 
bear  with  you;  but  if  it  be  a  question  of  words ," — mere 


268  PAUL  AT  CORINTH. 

verbal  controversy,  and  "names" — such  as  Jesus  or  Mes- 
siah, "  and  of  your  law  " — your  national  law,  in  contrast 
with  the  Koman  law,  "look  ye  to  it,  for  I  will  be  no 
judge  of  such  matters."  Such  disputes  did  not  come 
within  his  jurisdiction.  Regulate  your  religious  matters 
in  your  own  way ;  so  long  as  the  peace  is  kept,  I  choose 
not  to  interfere.  "And  he  drave  them  from  the  judgment- 
seat" — the  tribunal  so  sacred  to  a  Roman  governor — 
dismissed  them  and  their  case  with  summary  contempt. 
The  heathen  hangers-on  at  once  laid  hold  of  the  chief 
complainer,  and  beat  him  in  the  presence  of  Gallio,  either 
because  the  Jews  had  annoyed  him  and  he  had  so  curtly 
sent  them  off,  or  they  seized  the  opportunity  because  the 
feud  between  Jew  and  Gentile  was  constant  and  bitter. 
The  judge  had  frowned  and  they  struck,  glad  to  have 
such  encouragement.  "  And  Gallio  cared  for  none  of  those 
things" — perhaps  thought  the  beating  of  Sosthenes  a  just 
punishment  for  his  forwardness — observed  a  perfect  neu- 
trality between  contending  religious  parties,  and,  from  his 
well-known  gentleness  of  nature,  practised  the  law  of 
toleration.  The  reference  of  this  last  clause  is  not  to 
moral  or  religious  indifference,  but  to  his  official  behaviour 
as  Roman  judge  on  this  occasion. 

The  promise  of  the  Master  had  been — "  No  man  shall 
set  on  thee  to  hurt  thee,"  and  the  promise  was  kept; 
men  had  set  on  him,  but  they  had  not  been  able  to  hurt 
him.  Remaining  in  Corinth  a  considerable  time  he  was 
unmolested,  and  then  "  took  his  leave  of  the  brethren, 
and  sailed  thence  unto  Syria;'7  that  is,  from  Cenchrea 
he  crossed,  in  the  first  instance,  over  to  Ephesus,  Syria 


JOUENEY  FEOM  COEINTH  TO  JEEUSALEM.  269 

being  his  remoter  destination.  Though  he  remained  but 
a  brief  period  at  Ephesus,  yet  he  commenced  his  usual 
occupation — "  entered  into  the  synagogue,  and  reasoned 
with  the  Jews."  On  being  pressed  to  remain,  "  he  con- 
sented not,  but  bade  them  farewell,  saying,  I  must  by  all 
means  keep  this  feast  that  cometh  in  Jerusalem,  but  I  will 
return  again  to  you,  if  God  will."  The  feast  was  probably 
Pentecost,  and  by  the  law,  as  Josephus  describes  it,  he 
was  bound  to  appear  within  thirty  days  after  the  shaving 
of  his  head  in  token  of  the  expiry  of  his  vow,  and  obtain 
absolution  through  a  certain  ritual  in  the  temple.  To 
accomplish  this  he  hastened  from  Ephesus,  "  landed  at 
Cesarea,"  went  up  to  Jerusalem,  and  "saluted  the  church." 
Thus  ended  the  second  great  missionary  journey  of  the 
apostle. 


XIL— PAUL  AT  EPHESUS. 

ACTS  xix.  1—41.     1  COR.  xv.  81,  32 ;  xvi.  8,  9.     2  COR.  i.  8,  9,  10. 
EPISTLE  TO  THE  EPHESIANS. 

ON  leaving  Jerusalem  for  his  third  missionary  circuit,  the 
apostle  "went  down  to  Antioch,"  and  "spent  some  time 
there."  This  city  had  many  attractions  for  him ;  there  he 
had  laboured  with  signal  success,  and  in  the  midst  of  the 
brethren  his  heart  was  cheered.  Leaving  it,  "he  went 
over  all  the  country  of  Galatia  and  Phrygia  in  order, 
strengthening  all  the  disciples."  At  length,  "having 
passed  through  the  upper  coasts  " — inland  districts  to  the 
east — he  came  to  Ephesus,  or  returned  to  it  according  to 
promise.  Built  chiefly  on  two  heights  near  the  mouth  of 
the  Cayster,  Ephesus  had  a  capacious  harbour,  where  ships 
of  all  countries  discharged  their  cargoes,  and  it  had  access 
also  to  the  far  interior  by  the  defiles  of  mount  Tmolus  and 
up  the  valley  of  the  Hermus.  Not  only  had  it  an  extensive 
trade,  but  it  was  also  the  highway  from  Home  into  Asia. 
Its  situation  gave  it  importance,  for  it  might  become  a 
great  centre  of  evangelizing  influence.  Its  ships  traded 
with  Greece,  Egypt,  and  the  Levant,  and  the  Ionian  cities 
poured  their  eager  and  inquisitive  population  into  it  at 
the  annual  festival  in  honour  of  Diana. 

On  his  arrival  at  Ephesus,  where  he  was  to  stay  for  so 
long  a  period,  Paul  found  certain  disciples — Christian 
converts ;  and  these  twelve  men  were  in  much  the  same 
situation  as  Apollos  is  described  to  have  been  towards  the 


DEFECTIVE   CHRISTIANITY.  271 

conclusion  of  the  preceding  chapter.  They  were  imper- 
fectly informed,  but  they  were  sincere;  and  they  were 
conscientious  in  walking  up  to  the  measure  of  their  light. 
The  apostle  at  once  accosted  them.  "  He  said  unto  them, 
Have  ye  received  the  Holy  Ghost  since  ye  believed? 
And  they  said  unto  him,  We  have  not  so  much  as  heard 
whether  there  be  any  Holy  Ghost."  It  is  plain  that 
their  defective  Christianity  had  struck  the  apostle  with 
wonder,  and  suggested  these  interrogations.  The  previous 
conversation  is  not,  indeed,  recorded,  the  results  only  are 
given  us.  The  precise  point  of  the  question  is  lost  in  our 
translation,  for  it  really  is,  "Did  ye  receive  the  Holy 
Ghost  when  ye  believed?"  The  inquiry  is  not  whether 
at  any  point  of  time  since  their  conversion  they  had 
received  the  Holy  Ghost,  but  whether,  when  on  a  profes- 
sion of  faith  they  had  been  baptized,  they  had  been 
endowed  with  the  "heavenly  gift,"  especially  in  its  palpable 
form  and  manifestation.  And  their  reply  is — "  But  (so 
far  from  this)  we  did  not  even  hear  if  there  is  a  Holy 
Ghost."  At  their  baptism  they  did  not  hear  His  name 
mentioned,  far  less  did  they  enjoy  any  effusion.  Christian 
baptism,  as  the  initiatory  rite,  makes  mention  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  but  their  baptism  was  silent  about  Him.  The 
meaning  is  not  that  they  were  ignorant  of  the  existence  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  promised  in  the  Old  Testament,  for  they 
were  Jews;  but  that  they  heard  not  His  name  at  the 
critical  period  referred  to.  Their  answer  is,  therefore,  a 
strong  denial  to  the  question.  The  apostle  at  once  asked 
them  again,  "Unto  what  then  were  ye  baptized?  And 
they  said,  Unto  John's  baptism."  This  reply  explained 


272  PAUL  AT  EPHESUS. 

the  peculiarity.  Their  baptism,  omitting  all  reference  to 
the  Spirit,  could  not  be  Christian  baptism.  "  Into  what 
baptism,  therefore,  were  ye  baptized,"  is  the  question,  and 
the  reply  is,  "  Into  John's  baptism" — the  baptism  adminis- 
tered by  him  to  his  countrymen,  with  its  own  formula  and 
profession.  They  were  not,  however,  disciples  of  John, 
but  of  Christ ;  for  John  preached  Christ,  and  baptized  only 
those  who  professed  faith  in  Him  as  the  promised  Messiah. 
But  John's  baptism  was  an  imperfect  ordinance  now  that 
Jesus  had  suffered  and  died,  and  gone  to  glory. 

The  apostle  at  this  point  explained  the  nature  and  pur- 
pose of  John's  baptism — "  Then  said  Paul,  John  verily 
baptized  with  the  baptism  of  repentance,  saying  unto 
the  people  that  they  should  believe  on  Him  which 
should  come  after  him,  that  is,  on  Christ  Jesus."  John's 
baptism  was  that  of  repentance,  its  watchword  being 
repentance — a  change  of  mind  and  heart,  as  the  pre- 
paration for  Christ's  advent.  The  apostle  used  the  same 
terms  concerning  John  in  the  synagogue  at  Pisidia, 
and  under  that  head  we  have  explained  them.  As  he 
was  baptizing,  John  invariably  instructed  the  people, 
and  his  uniform  charge  was,  that  they  should  believe 
not  on  himself,  but  on  Christ.  And  he  characterized  the 
Messiah  as  the  One  coming  after  him ;  for,  being  His 
herald,  John's  descriptive  language  is,  "  He  that  cometh 
after  me  ;"  "  there  cometh  one  mightier  than  I  after  me ;" 
"He  it  is  who,  coming  after  me,  is  preferred  before  me;" 
"  I  am  not  the  Christ,  but  I  am  sent  before  Him."  Pro- 
bably "  He  that  cometh  after  me,"  was  the  appellation  of 
Christ  formally  employed  by  John  when  he  dispensed 


THE  BAPTISM   OF  JOHN.  273 

baptism.  He  demanded  faith  in  the  Coming  One,  and  the 
applicant  avowed  his  faith  in  the  Coming  One.  He  did 
not,  indeed,  call  Him  Jesus  in  his  discourses,  but  the 
apostle  adds  in  explanation,  that  Jesus  was  the  individual 
referred  to.  The  Baptist  preached  the  Christ,  and  Jesus 
was  the  Christ.  These  men  had  believed  ideally  in  a 
coming  Messiah  when  they  were  baptized ;  but  as  they  were 
now  to  believe  really  in  Him  who  had  come,  even  Jesus, 
the  old  ordinance  was  not  sufficient  for  them.  They  were 
not  to  be  content  either  with  John's  doctrine  or  John's 
baptism,  for  both  were  anticipative.  Higher  privileges 
were  now  presented  to  them,  and  they  at  once  embraced 
them — "  When  they  heard  this,  they  were  baptized  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  Jesus."  It  is  needless  to  refer  to  the 
notion  sometimes  advocated,  that  this  verse  is  a  portion  of 
Paul's  address  in  reference  to  John's  hearers,  for  it  simply 
describes  what  took  place  at  Ephesus  as  the  result  of  the 
apostle's  explanation.  John's  baptism  was  not  Christian 
baptism.  It  was  administered  under  commission  from  the 
Father,  who  "had  sent  him  to  baptize,"  and  not  under 
commission  from  the  Son.  It  referred  to  a  coming 
Saviour,  and  not  to  one  who  had  died  and  was  glorified  • 
the  Holy  Spirit  was  not  named  in  its  formula,  for  it  was 
the  distinctive  prerogative  of  Jesus  to  confer  Him,  and 
many,  not  all  indeed,  to  whom  John  had  administered  the 
rite,  submitted  to  it  again  when  they  were  introduced  into 
the  church,  as  on  the  day  of  Pentecost.  The  apostle  laid 
his  hands  on  the  men  after  they  had  been  baptized,  "  and 
the  Holy  Ghost  came  on  them,  and  they  spake  with 
tongues  and  prophesied." 

s 


274  PAUL  AT   EPHESUS. 

The  gift  of  tongues  was  then  a  common  spectacle.  It 
had  been  conferred  at  Pentecost,  and  had  spread  and  per- 
petuated itself  in  the  church.  The  plain  meaning  seems  to 
"be,  that  those  who  enjoyed  it  could  speak  in  living 
languages  which  they  had  never  learned.  This  sudden 
capacity  was  miraculous,  for  all  of  us  know  what  toil  is 
required  to  master  a  foreign  language,  so  as  to  use  it  with 
the  correctness  and  fluency  of  one's  native  dialect.  The 
linguistic  endowment  was  not  only  striking,  but  also  use- 
ful, for  those  who  had  it  might  employ  it  as  missionaries 
in  other  lands,  and,  though  it  was  abused,  the  abuse  could 
injure  no  one.  A  man  might  speak  many  tongues,  and 
indulge  in  an  ostentatious  display  of  them,  as  seems  to 
have  been  the  case  in  the  Corinthian  church ;  but  no  one 
was  hurt  by  his  polyglott  exhibition  —  a  very  different 
result  from  what  might  be  imagined  had  there  been 
bestowed  upon  the  early  converts  the  faculty  of  inflicting 
judgments,  or  of  raising  the  dead. 

The  prophesying  was  a  species  of  excited  declamation, 
under  the  impulse  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  persons  who 
enjoyed  it  were  inspired  improvisatori,  pouring  out  song 
and  doctrine  in  animated  and  exalted  phrase.  They  were 
not  prophets  in  any  official  sense,  for  prophets  ranked  next 
to  apostles ;  but  they  could  speak,  as  the  apostle  describes 
it,  to  "edification,  and  exhortation,  and  comfort."  Pro- 
phesying, whether  as  an  occasional  or  stated  exercise,  was 
useful  chiefly  "for  them  that  believe."  It  excited  and 
instructed  them,  as  it  rose  so  freshly  out  of  the  spiritual 
consciousness,  and  described  the  high  aspects  and  bearings 
of  Christian  truth  and  ethics.  The  Spirit  so  lighted  up 


SCHOOL  OF  TYRANNUS.  275 

their  spirits,  that  they  saw  with  a  new  vision,  and  He  so 
impelled  them,  that  they  could  not  but  speak  what  they 
thus  beheld. 

As  his  wont  had  been,  the  apostle  began  his  evangelical 
labours  in  the  synagogue.  For  three  months  did  he  labour 
in  it,  and  in  the  same  strain — "spake  boldly,  disputing  and 
persuading  the  things  concerning  the  kingdom  of  God; " 
disputing — using  every  form  of  argument;  persuading — 
labouring  to  convince ;  the  kingdom  of  God — viz.,  the  new 
dispensation,  often  predicted  under  such  a  title.  But  the 
result  was  as  elsewhere  —  "divers  were  hardened  and 
believed  not — disbelieved — gave  a  positive  refusal  to  the 
gospel;  and  not  only  so,  but  "spake  evil  of  that  way 
before  the  multitude" — maligned  Christianity  so  bitterly 
and  boisterously  that  the  apostle's  efforts  were  wholly  frus- 
trated. He  and  the  believers,  therefore,  seceded  from  the 
synagogue,  and  met  in  the  school  of  one  Tyrannus,  who 
might  be  either  a  rabbi  or  a  Greek  rhetorician.  There  he 
was  "  disputing  daily,"  vindicating  the  gospel  against  its 
assailants,  combating  their  fallacies,  and  demonstrating  the 
truth  of  what  they  opposed  and  misrepresented.  The 
apostle  continued  this  course  "  for  two  years ;  so  that  all 
they  which  dwelt  in  Asia  heard  the  word  of  the  Lord 
Jesus,  both  Jews  and  Greeks."  The  fame  of  the  apostle 
spread  through  the  province,  all  round  the  coasts  and  far 
away  into  the  interior — the  region  of  the  "seven  churches." 
As  he  describes  it  himself,  "  a  great  door  and  effectual  is 
opened."  Masses  of  the  heathen  population  were  reached, 
whether  by  short  journeys  of  the  apostle,  or  by  their 
thronging  into  the  Ionian  capital,  or  pitching  their  tents 


276  PAUL  AT  EPHESUS. 

round  about  it.  The  reference  in  the  clause  last  quoted 
may  have  been  to  the  period  of  the  Pan-Ionic  games, 
when  a  vast  concourse  of  strangers  crowded  into  the  city, 
and  for  a  month — the  month  of  May — held  holiday  in 
honour  of  Diana.  The  apostle  would  not  want  an  audience 
amidst  such  idle  masses  of  the  people  bent  on  gratifying 
curiosity. 

If  it  be  asked  what  the  apostle  preached  during  his  pro- 
longed sojourn  at  Ephesus,  the  answer  is  easily  given,  and 
on  his  own  authority.  There  was,  first,  a  special  polemical 
contest  with  the  Jews,  proving  the  Messiahship ;  and  that 
so  keen,  that  they  seem  to  have  hated  him  yet  more  viru- 
lently than  did  their  brethren  at  Berea  or  Corinth.  And 
there  was,  secondly,  the  exposition  and  enforcement  of  the 
great  and  distinctive  truths  of  the  gospel.  But  from  the 
context,  from  the  valedictory  address  at  Miletus,  and  from 
the  epistle  to  the  church  of  Ephesus  we  may  glean  some 
more  special  information. 

And  first  and  generally,  the  apostle  proclaimed  the  gospel 
as  a  true,  divine,  and  saving  revelation.  Writing  from 
Rome  he  says  to  the  Ephesians — "After  that  ye  heard 
the  word  of  truth,  the  gospel  of  your  salvation."  It  was 
brought  by  him  to  them  under  this  character.  It  was  not 
a  new  opinion,  or  a  recent  speculation,  or  a  system  elabo- 
rated with  infinite  ingenuity  and  effort;  but  it  was  the 
word  of  truth — an  oracle  without  fiction  or  ambiguity.  As 
this  the  apostle  proclaimed  it;  not  as  its  originator,  but 
simply  as  its  herald.  He  told  it,  because  he  had  been 
commissioned  to  tell  it;  told  it  not  in  fragments,  or  in 
shapes  of  growing  clearness  and  symmetry,  but  at  once 


THE  GOSPEL  OF  SALVATION.  277 

in  all  its  fulness  and  perfection.  It  is  truth ;  therefore 
accept  it,  and  live  by  it.  Kefuse  it ;  ah !  if  you  refuse 
it,  it  is  at  the  peril  of  your  souls ;  for  it  is  not  only  truth, 
"but  gospel — the  gospel  of  your  salvation — good  news,  of 
which  salvation  is  the  theme.  Men  cannot  know  what 
the  salvation  is  till  they  feel  what  the  danger  is.  And 
that  danger  is  beyond  description — the  guilt  and  misery 
of  sin — guilt  that  man  cannot  expiate,  and  misery  out  of 
which  he  can  by  no  effort  or  sorcery  charm  himself.  The 
sentence  of  death  is  upon  him — it  is  in  him — "dead  in 
trespasses  and  sins."  And  what  power  but  God's  can 
awake  him  ?  what  pity  but  God's  can  touch  him  ?  It  is 
perdition  if  there  be  no  relief — sin  being  at  once  its  own 
penalty,  and  bringing  down  upon  it  also  the  anger  of  the 
judge.  It  is  of  the  essence  of  sin  to  entail  agony — there 
being  "no  peace  to  the  wicked,"  by  an  inviolable  law  of 
the  universe ;  and  not  only  so,  but  a  positive  punishment 
has  also  been  decreed  against  it.  There  is  no  escape,  and 
those  words  and  images  of  God  contain  an  awful  truth — 
"  Though  they  dig  into  hell,  thence  shall  mine  hand  take 
them  j  though  they  climb  up  to  heaven,  thence  will  I  bring 
them  down :  and  though  they  hide  themselves  in  the  top 
of  Carmel,  I  will  search  and  take  them  out  thence ;  and 
though  they  be  hid  from  my  sight  in  the  bottom  of  the 
sea,  thence  will  I  command  the  serpent  and  he  shall  bite 
them :  and  though  they  go  into  captivity  before  their 
enemies,  thence  will  I  command  the  sword,  and  it  shall 
slay  them  :  and  I  will  set  mine  eyes  upon  them  for  evil, 
and  not  for  good."  Must  it  not,  then,  be  good  news  to 
hear  of  deliverance  ?  not  of  what  it  should  be,  but  of  what 


278  PAUL  AT  EPHESUS. 

it  is ;  not  of  the  idea  of  it,  but  the  fact  of  it ;  not  of  it  as 
contemplated,  but  as  provided  ;  not  of  it  as  provided  only, 
but  also  as  offered,  and  offered  so  freely  and  universally 
that  any  one  may  accept  and  possess  it.  The  Ephesians 
heard  Paul  preach  and  they  believed,  and  on  their  belief 
were  "  sealed  with  that  Holy  Spirit  of  promise." 

Secondly  and  personally,  Paul  preached  Christ  as  the 
one  theme  in  this  word  of  truth,  and  the  one  agent  in 
this  salvation.  The  Ephesians  are  said  on  hearing  it  to 
have  believed  on  Him — "  in  whom  ye  also  trusted" — "  in 
whom  also  ye  were  sealed" — faith  on  Him,  union  to  Him. 
The  vagabond  Jews,  exorcists,  used  as  their  spell  these 
words — "  We  adjure  thee  by  Jesus,  whom  Paul  preacheth." 
They  characterized  his  preaching  by  this,  and  they  charac- 
terized it  truly.  He  preached  Jesus — no  one  but  Jesus — 
Jesus  on  all  occasions  and  everywhere — the  same  in  the 
school  of  Tyrannus  as  it  had  been  in  the  synagogue — the 
same  at  his  second  visit  as  at  his  first — the  same  for  two 
whole  years  as  it  had  been  during  the  earlier  "  three  months." 
What  nobler  theme  could  he  expound  than  the  person  of 
Christ  and  the  work  of  Christ  ?  the  Son  of  God  who  veiled 
His  glory  and  lay  in  the  cradle,  "made  of  a  woman" — who 
"  increased  in  wisdom  and  stature" — who  wrought  at  His 
father's  occupation,  submitting  to  the  curse — who  enjoyed 
"the  Spirit  without  measure,"  and  baffled  the  assaults  of 
Satan — who  spoke  such  words  of  love,  and  did  such  deeds 
of  kindness — who  never  sinned  in  thought  or  act,  and  left 
a  pure  and  attractive  example — who  opened  His  heart  to 
the  vile  and  unworthy,  receiving  sinners  and  eating  with 
them — who  could  touch  the  leper  without  fear  of  being 


CHRIST  THE  SAVIOUE.  279 

infected,  and  walk  in  a  guilty  world  without  risk  of  being 
contaminated — who  never  showed  respect  of  persons  in  His 
intercourse  with  men,  while  no  form  of  misery  appealed  to 
Him  in  vain — who  suffered  Himself  to  be  betrayed,  appre- 
hended, tried,  scourged,  buffeted,  blindfolded,  spit  upon, 
insulted  in  every  possible  way — and  who  was  at  length 
nailed  to  the  cross  without  reluctance,  and  in  perfect  self- 
devotion  to  the  will  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  mankind. 
This  Jesus  the  apostle  held  out  as  the  one  Saviour,  yet 
living  and  loving,  pleading  and  sending  down  His  Spirit, 
giving  light  to  the  blind  and  peace  to  the  disturbed,  riches 
to  the  poor  and  health  to  the  diseased,  sympathy  to  the 
afflicted  and  comfort  to  the  bereaved — a  Saviour,  in  short, 
able,  and  none  can  doubt  His  ability — a  Saviour  willing, 
and  none  can  impugn  His  willingness ;  for  the  love  that 
brought  Him  to  the  cross  still  glows  in  His  bosom  before 
the  throne.  Nor  could  he  refrain  from  preaching  Him  as 
Master,  presenting  a  perfect  example,  and  giving  ability 
to  copy  it — changing  believers  "  into  the  same  image  from 
glory  to  glory"  by  His  own  Spirit  given  to  them.  And,  as 
at  Athens,  he  must  have  pointed  to  Him  as  judge,  to  sit 
upon  His  own  tribunal  and  award  an  infallible  and  eternal 
destiny — to  welcome  His  own  people  to  Himself  and  the 
glory  prepared  for  them,  and  doom  the  unrighteous  to 
"  everlasting  fire,  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels." 

In  one  portion  of  his  letter  to  the  Ephesian  church,  the 
apostle  says  that  Christ  "  came  and  preached  peace  to 
you  which  were  afar  off,  and  to  them  that  were  nigh  " — 
preached  it  through  His  apostle — preached  peace  between 
Jew  and  Gentile,  and  reconciliation  between  both  and  God ; 


280  PAUL  AT  EPHESUS. 

for  "  through  Him  we  both  have  access  by  one  Spirit  unto 
the  Father."  This  Jesus,  our  Saviour  and  our  peace,  Paul 
preached.  Never  himself  did  he  preach,  or  any  other  than 
Jesus — the  one  Saviour  and  sole  foundation  of  acceptance 
before  God.  And  what  is  a  discourse  without  Him  ?  what 
saving  life  or  power  can  belong  to  it?  As  he  writes  to 
them — "Now,  therefore,  ye  are  no  more  strangers  and 
foreigners,  but  fellow-citizens  with  the  saints,  and  of  the 
household  of  God;  and  are  built  upon  the  foundation  of 
the  apostles  and  prophets,  Jesus  Christ  Himself  being 
the  chief  corner-stone."  Christ  is  the  chief  corner-stone, 
and  the  apostle  preached  always  under  this  conviction — 
"that  the  man,  ' Jesus,'  who  was  'Christ,'  the  divinely- 
appointed  and  qualified  and  accepted  Saviour,  unites  and 
sustains  the  church.  Saving  knowledge  is  the  appre- 
hension of  that  truth  about  Him  which  Himself  has 
announced — saving  faith  is  dependence  on  the  atoning 
work  which  He  has  done — hope  rests  in  His  intercession 
— the  sanctifying  Spirit  is  His  gift — the  unity  of  the 
church  has  its  spiritual  centralization  in  Him — its  govern- 
ment is  from  Him  as  its  King — and  its  safety  is  in  Him, 
its  exalted  Protector.  Whether,  therefore,  we  regard 
creed  or  practice,  worship  or  discipline,  faith  or  govern- 
ment, union  or  extension,  is  He  not  in  His  truth,  His 
blood,  His  power,  His  legislation,  and  His  presence  to 
His  church  '  Himself  the  chief  corner-stone?'" 

Thirdly  and  doctrinally,  the  apostle  preached,  as  him- 
self describes  it,  "repentance  towards  God,  and  faith 
towards  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  Repentance  towards  God 
is  that  state  of  heart  which  every  sinner  ought  to  cherish 


REPENTANCE  AND  FAITH.  281 

before  God,  whose  law  lie  has  broken,  and  whose  sentence 
he  has  merited.  Surely  it  is  meet  for  him  to  feel  his  sin 
in  all  its  guilt  and  aggravation,  and  especially  in  this 
element  of  it — that  it  has  been  committed  against  God ; 
not  to  feel  it  only,  but  to  mourn  over  it,  and  confess  it 
frankly  and  without  reserve  or  apology ;  and  not  only  to 
confess  it,  but  to  hate  it ;  and  as  he  asks  the  forgiveness  of 
it,  to  resolve  to  forsake  it,  and  now  in  God's  name  and  in 
God's  strength  to  follow  after  holiness.  Evangelical  contri- 
tion is  very  different  from  selfish  despair ;  for  its  language 
is — "Against  thee,  thee  only,  have  I  sinned,  and  done 
this  evil  in  thy  sight."  And  it  is  equally  different  from 
"the  sorrow  of  the  world,  which  worketh  death ;"  for  it  is 
the  first  pulsation  of  life.  It  is  not  the  mere  remorse 
which  Judas  felt  when  he  "  went  and  hanged  himself ; " 
for,  as  there  is  the  hope  of  forgiveness,  the  mercy  of  God 
is  apprehended  in  the  cross  of  Christ.  Sin  is  seen  to  be 
exceeding  sinful  only  in  the  sin-offering  of  the  Lamb,  and 
the  eye  of  faith  alone  can  realize  the  vision — "  They  shall 
look  on  Him  whom  they  have  pierced  and  mourn."  Faith 
toward  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ — faith  resting  on  Him  as 
its  one  object.  For  Christ  is  not  Saviour  to  any  one 
in  reality  till  He  be  believed  in.  The  heart  must  rely 
on  Him,  assured  of  His  claims.  The  link  of  connection 
between  the  soul  and  Christ  is  faith — the  belief  of  the 
truth  about  Him,  and  earnest  and  simple  reliance  upon 
Him.  Faith  is  thus  the  cardinal  or  distinctive  grace,  and 
the  want  of  it  is  fatal ;  for  the  message  of  God  is  in  that 
case  treated  as  a  lie,  and  Himself  as  a  liar.  The  apostle 
preached  Christ  as  an  object  of  faith,  and  declared  that  up 


282  PAUL  AT  EPHESUS. 

till  the  first  moment  of  faith,  no  saving  change  is  produced 
on  the  heart.  His  order  was — Believe  Him,  and  then  you 
may  know  Him;  believe  Him,  and  then  you  shall  love 
Him ;  believe  Him,  and  then  you  cannot  but  serve  Him, 
and  be  one  with  Him :  "  The  life  which  I  now  live  in 
the  flesh  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  loved 
me  and  gave  Himself  for  me." 

Repentance  and  faith  were  his  twin  doctrines ;  repen- 
tance towards  God,  as  He  it  is  who  loved  us,  though  we 
so  heinously  sinned  against  Him ;  and  faith  towards  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as  He  it  is  who,  bearing  the  penalty, 
is  "the  propitiation  through  faith  in  His  blood."  For 
repentance  and  faith  are  united  closely — repentance  con- 
ditioned by  faith,  and  faith  urged  and  necessitated  by 
repentance.  Salvation  is  forced  by  God  upon  no  one, 
and  no  one  can  accept  salvation  till  he  feel  his  need  of  it. 
The  first  consciousness  of  need  is  the  first  element  of 
repentance.  Conviction  of  sin  begets  desire  of  forgiveness, 
and  such  a  desire  is  responded  to  by  God.  He  who  is 
most  deeply  sensible  of  what  he  is,  who  knows  most  truly 
what  sin  deserves  and  what  sin  is,  and  who  has  been 
alarmed  by  those  heartquakes  which  it  produces,  and 
sighs  and  groans  under  his  burden — he  kneels  the  most 
lowly,  longs  the  most  vehemently  for  the  grace  of  God, 
and  cries  most  earnestly  for  pardon  and  peace.  The 
spirit  so  subdued  and  softened  is  prepared  for  the  posses- 
sion of  faith — faith  resting  on  Him  who  died  for  sin,  who 
invites  and  accepts  the  weeping  penitent,  and  gives  "  beauty 
for  ashes,  the  oil  of  joy  for  mourning,  and  the  garment 
of  praise  for  the  spirit  of  heaviness."  The  process  is 


NECESSITY  OF  HOLINESS.  283 

described  in  Ps.  xxxii.,  where  the  royal  bard  sings  his 
own  experience,  beginning  with  the  blessedness  of  that 
forgiveness,  to  which  he  had  at  length  attained ;  but  there 
had  been  anguish  and  groans  day  and  night,  when  sin  lay 
on  his  conscience  a  burning  torture,  and  his  nature  was 
not  relieved  till  he  made  acknowledgment  to  God.  The 
tale  of  guilt  breathed  into  the  ears  of  a  fellow-man  eases 
the  bosom,  and  lightens  its  load.  So  when  the  soul  owns 
its  condition  to  God,  and  weeps  and  mourns  for  its  tres- 
passes against  Him,  it  betters  itself  in  the  very  act  ;  for  it 
is  the  first  token  of  confidence  in  Him.  Prior  to  this 
hearty  and  humble  confession,  the  soul  is  like  one  in  fever, 
with  burning  skin,  throbbing  brow,  parched  tongue,  and 
utter  prostration — his  "moisture  turned  into  the  drought  of 
summer ; "  but  when  he  opens  his  heart  to  God  in  earnest 
trust,  it  is  as  when  the  fever  abates,  and  the  aching  sub- 
sides, and  the  morbid  tension  of  the  frame  is  reduced,  and 
gentle  slumber  gives  evidence  of  returning  health. 

And  fourthly,  the  apostle  taught  ethically  the  necessity 
of  holiness,  and  its  connection  with  heaven  as  the  prepara- 
tion for  it.  He  says  to  the  Ephesians  in  reference  to  his 
own  preaching — "  But  ye  have  not  so  learned  Christ ;  if 
so  be  that  ye  have  heard  him,  and  have  been  taught  by 
him,  as  the  truth  is  in  Jesus :  that  ye  put  off,  concerning 
the  former  conversation,  the  old  man,  which  is  corrupt 
according  to  the  deceitful  lusts;  and  be  renewed  in  the 
spirit  of  your  mind;  and  that  ye  put  on  the  new  man, 
which  after  God  is  created  in  righteousness  and  true 
holiness."  And  again  —  "For  this  ye  know,  that  no 
whoremonger,  nor  unclean  person,  nor  covetous  man,  who 


284  PAUL  AT  EPHESUS. 

is  an  idolater,  hath  any  inheritance  in  the  kingdom  of 
Christ  and  of  God."  In  both  passages  the  apostle  evidently 
alludes  to  his  previous  and  personal  instructions — "  Ye 
have  not  so  learned  Christ" — "This  ye  know."  When 
among  them  he  had  insisted  on  purity  of  heart  and  life,  on 
entire  renovation,  the  putting  off  of  the  old  man,  renewal 
in  the  spirit  of  the  mind,  and  the  assumption  of  the  new 
man.  This  purity  is  called  learning  Christ  and  obedience 
to  the  truth  "  as  the  truth  is  in  Jesus."  And  he  says — 
"Ye  know"  it;  ye  know  what  holiness  and  unworldliness 
are  incumbent  upon  you  as  expectants  of  glory. 

For  Christ  is  Master  as  well  as  Saviour,  the  object  of 
imitation  as  well  as  the  object  of  faith.  The  design  of 
His  death  is  to  bring  man  back  to  his  primeval  state — 
"righteousness  and  true  holiness."  Pardon  prepares  for 
holiness — they  who  are  justified  are  of  necessity  also 
sanctified — delivered  from  the  power  of  sin  as  well  as 
from  its  burden — are  "  turned  away  from  their  iniquities." 
The  love  of  sin  must  die  within  them — of  every  form  of 
sin,  no  matter  what  temptation  there  is  to  it,  or  how  pre- 
valent is  its  sway,  how  lightly  the  world  thinks  of  it,  or 
how  leniently  it  speaks  of  it.  The  sins  which  the  apostle 
censures  in  the  Ephesian  church  are  yet  far  from  uncommon 
among  us.  Intemperance,  for  example ;  how  many  jocular 
and  palliative  names  are  given  to  it ;  and  impurity — what 
neutral,  nay,  graceful  terms  have  been  coined  to  cover  its 
baseness !  But  Christ's  authority  interposes,  and  we  dare 
not  tamper  with  sin ;  the  purity  of  heaven  is  before  us,  and 
we  must  be  made  meet  for  it.  To  take  sin  out  of  us,  to  per- 
fect us,  to  bring  us  back  to  what  God  made  us — this  is  the 


THE  NEW  THEOLOGY.  285 

work  of  spiritual  restoration  which  Christ  effects  within 
us,  and  which,  by  resisting  temptation,  and  casting  off 
past  habits,  and  imploring  and  cherishing  grace,  we  are 
ever  to  be  forwarding  within  us.  They  who  seek  happi- 
ness elsewhere  than  in  Christ,  and  strive,  in  the  indulgence 
of  appetite  or  the  accumulation  of  this  world's  goods,  to 
create  a  heaven  for  themselves,  have  no  part  in  God's 
heaven,  and  cannot  have  any  "  inheritance  in  the  kingdom 
of  Christ  and  of  God;"  for  they  have  no  relish  for  it, 
neither  the  hope  of  it,  nor  yet  any  meetness  for  it.  And 
how,  then,  can  they  dwell  in  it  ? 

Such  is  a  brief  sketch  of  that  doctrine  which  the  apostle 
preached  in  the  city  of  Diana — no  novelty,  but  the  same 
truth  which  he  had  proclaimed  in  every  place  he  had 
visited.  He  knew  that  this  was  the  only  saving  truth,  to 
be  ever  preserved  in  its  simplicity  and  power ;  for  to  add 
is  to  impair,  and  to  alter  is  to  corrupt,  and  to  improve  is 
to  adulterate  it.  Restless  minds  have  not  been  satisfied 
with  the  gospel  preached  by  Paul,  but  would  ingeniously 
modify  it.  What  is  called  "the  new  or  negative  theology," 
resembling  Paul's  in  little  but  in  name,  has  been  sati- 
rized by  an  American  essayist  in  the  form  of  a  parody  on 
the  "  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  averring  that,  by  the  expertness 
of  modern  engineering,  the  old  and  difficult  footpath  has 
been  converted  into  a  railway;  that  the  Slough  of  Despond, 
into  which  "twenty  thousand  cart-loads  of  wholesome 
instructions  had  been  thrown  without  effect,"  has  been 
filled  up  with  numberless  tomes  of  French  philosophy  and 
German  rationalism ;  that  the  burthen  which  lay  so  heavy 
and  galling  on  the  traveller's  shoulders  till  he  saw  the 


286  PAUL  AT  EPHESUS. 

cross,  is  snugly  deposited  in  the  luggage  van;  that  the 
roll,  which  of  old  was  sometimes  cumbersome,  has  been 
pared  down  to  a  neat  and  elegant  ticket ;  that  the  Hill  of 
Difficulty  has  been  tunnelled,  and  with  the  rock  and  rubbish 
excavated  from  the  heart  of  it,  the  Valley  of  Humiliation 
has  been  tilled  up ;  that  the  defile  of  the  Shadow  of 
Death  is  lighted  with  innumerable  jets  of  brilliant  gas 
which  itself  exudes  from  the  soil;  and  that  the  last 
chilly  river  which  Christian  waded  with  no  few  anxieties 
is  now  regularly  crossed  by  a  capacious  steam  ferry-boat. 
The  satire  is  too  true.  Are  not  men  taught  that  faith  in 
Jesus  is  a  vanity — that  a  vague  confidence  in  all-giving 
Goodness  is  enough — that  sage  resolution  supersedes  change 
of  heart — that  the  old  struggle  between  flesh  and  spirit 
may  be  neutralized — that  the  oppression  of  sin  is  a  self- 
created  dream  and  burden — that  spiritual  progress  is  only 
daily  experience — and  that  death  is  but  the  debt  of  nature, 
which  no  one  can  grudge  to  pay? 

Alas!  for  the  delusion.  Still  must  each  one  feel  his 
guilt  and  look  to  his  Saviour's  cross ;  still  must  each 
one  enjoy  the  vital  change  by  which  he  is  born  into 
"newness  of  life ;"  still  must  each  one  battle  with  unsub- 
dued appetites  and  passions,  that  he  may  be  more  than 
a  conqueror ;  still  must  each  one  by  himself  meet  death, 
and  only  through  Him  that  died  obtain  a  triumph.  It 
is  not  every  one  that  hopes  for  heaven  who  will  enter 
it ;  for  it  is  no  accidental  destiny,  neither  is  it  a  necessary 
termination  of  our  career.  It  is  by  no  law  of  nature, 
as  the  fruit  succeeds  the  blossom,  or  the  insect  bursts 
from  the  chrysalis,  that  we  come  into  possession  of  it. 


OPPOSITION.  287 

Christ  has  died  to  open  up  the  path,  and  is  Himself  "  the 
way,  the  truth,  and  the  life."  Our  moral  nature  is  appealed 
to,  that  it  may  credit  the  testimony  of  God.  Faith,  as  it 
secures  forgiveness,  reunites  us  to  the  source  of  life ;  the 
Divine  Spirit  imparts  life  to  the  soul  and  fosters  it  there ; 
the  kingdom  is  promised  only  "to  them  that  love  Him" — 
and  faith  worketh  by  love :  "  Thou  wilt  guide  me  by  thy 
counsel,  and  afterward  receive  me  to  glory."  O  that  all 
of  us  in  humility  accepted  the  Lord,  and  gave  our  souls 
to  him — learned  at  His  feet,  and  leaned  upon  His  bosom — 
implored,  possessed,  and  never  grieved  His  Spirit — sub- 
dued every  lust,  and  flung  off  every  weight — grew  into 
His  likeness,  and  revelled  in  fellowship  with  Him — felt 
His  presence  to  be  our  chiefest  joy  and  strength — and 
were  prepared  "  to  depart  and  be  with  Christ,  which  is  far 
better."  Salvation  and  heaven  are  ours  only  by  faith  like 
the  centurion's  tears,  like  those  of  Mary,  earnestness  like 
that  of  the  Syro-Phenician  mother,  and  prayer  like  that  of 
the  thief  on  the  cross.  Christ,  and  He  alone,  is  Saviour : 
"  Neither  is  there  salvation  in  any  other :  for  there  is  none 
other  name  under  heaven  given  among  men  whereby  we 
must  be  saved." 

Thus  did  the  apostle  preach  and  labour.  Opposition,  as 
usual,  was  stirred  up  against  him,  and  on  one  occasion  so 
fierce  and  brutal  was  it,  that  he  compares  it  to  fighting 
with  beasts  after  the  manner  of  men  at  Ephesus.  "  There 
are,"  he  says,  writing  from  Ephesus  to  Corinth,  "  there 
are  many  adversaries."  He  shed  "many  tears,"  for  his 
countrymen  were  his  principal  adversaries.  He  ceased  not 
"  to  warn  every  one  day  and  night  with  tears."  He  had 


288  PAUL  AT  EPHESUS. 

no  rest,  for  he  taught  "  publicly,  and  from  house  to  house." 
There  seem  also  to  have  fallen  on  the  apostle  other  dan- 
gers, which  have  not  been  recorded :  "  For  we  would  not, 
brethren,  have  you  ignorant  of  our  trouble  which  came 
to  us  in  Asia,  that  we  were  pressed  out  of  measure,  above 
strength,  insomuch  that  we  despaired  even  of  life  j  but  we 
had  the  sentence  of  death  in  ourselves,  that  we  should  not 
trust  in  ourselves,  but  in  God  which  raiseth  the  dead; 
who  delivered  us  from  so  great  a  death,  and  doth  deliver ; 
in  whom  we  trust  that  He  will  yet  deliver  us."  We 
know  not  to  what  the  allusion  is.  It  can  scarcely  be  to 
the  tumult  about  Diana,  but  to  some  other  peril,  either 
sickness,  or  perhaps  assassination  all  but  accomplished 
through  what  he  calls  "  the  lying  in  wait  of  the  Jews." 
For  weeks  he  was  a  doomed  man,  and  was  so  aware  of  it 
that  he  despaired  of  life.  The  wonder  is  not  that  conspi- 
racies were  formed  against  him,  but  the  wonder  is  that  he 
escaped  them  all.  The  shadow  of  an  assassin  again  and 
again  crossed  his  path,  daggers  were  pointed  at  him  by 
invisible  hands,  oaths  were  sworn  against  him,  but  he  bore 
a  charmed  life — his  hour  was  not  yet  come :  he  "  must 
also  see  Rome."  And  with  all  this  earnest  and  incessant 
toil,  there  was  no  vulgar  declamation,  for  the  apostle  and 
his  colleagues  were  solemnly  absolved  from  the  charge  of 
being  "  robbers  of  churches  or  blasphemers  of  the  goddess." 
The  missionary  proclaimed  the  truth,  and  allowed  the 
truth  to  work  its  way,  and  it  had  "  free  course  ;"  "  all  they 
which  dwelt  in  Asia  heard  the  word  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
both  Jews  and  Greeks."  Nay,  Demetrius  declares — 
"Moreover,  ye  see  and  hear,  that  not  alone  at  Ephesus, 


EPHESIAN  CHARMS.  289 

but  almost  throughout  all  Asia,  this  Paul  hath  persuaded 
and  turned  away  much  people,  saying  that  they  be  no 
gods  which  are  made  with  hands." 

During  his  stay  at  Ephesus,  the  preaching  of  the  apostle 
was  aided  by  special  miracles — unusual  miracles — "  So  that 
from  his  body  were  brought  unto  the  sick  handkerchiefs 
or  aprons,  and  the  diseases  departed  from  them,  and  the 
evil  spirits  went  out  of  them."  As  we  have  elsewhere  said 
— Surprising  results  sprang  from  the  slightest  contact  with 
the  wonder-worker ;  diseases  fled  at  the  approach  of  those 
light  articles  of  dress  which  he  had  touched  as  the  symbols 
or  conductors  of  divine  power  ;  and  the  "  evil  spirits," 
formally  acknowledging  his  supremacy,  quailed  before  him, 
and  were  ejected  from  the  possessed.  These  miracles,  as 
has  been  well  remarked,  were  of  a  kind  calculated  to  sup- 
press and  bring  into  contempt  the  magical  pretensions  for 
which  Ephesus  was  so  famous.  None  of  the  Ephesian 
arts  were  employed.  No  charm  was  needed,  no  mystic 
scroll  or  engraven  hieroglyph  •  there  was  no  repetition  of 
uncouth  syllables,  no  elaborate  initiation  into  any  occult 
and  intricate  science  by  means  of  expensive  books,  but 
shawls  and  aprons  were  the  easy  and  expeditious  vehicles 
of  healing  agency.  The  superstitious  "  characters  "  which 
the  Megalobyzi  and  Melissae — the  priests  and  priestesses  of 
Diana — had  so  carefully  patronized  and  made  popular 
amulets  throughout  the  Eastern  world,  were  shown  by  the 
contrast  to  be  the  most  useless  and  stupid  empiricism. 
That  indeed  they  were  so  in  themselves,  is  evident  from 
their  structure.  An  old  Greek  lexicographer,  himself  a 
native  of  Alexandria,  in  the  fourth  century,  gives  a 

T 


290  PAUL  AT  EPHESUS. 

specimen  of  the  gibberish — Aski,  Kataski,  Lix,  Tetrax, 
Damnameneus,  Aision ;  adding  that  according  to  tradition 
the  first  word  meant  darkness,  the  second  light,  the  third 
the  earth,  the  fourth  a  year,  the  fifth  the  sun,  and  the  last 
truth.  The  construction  of  such  recipes  had  risen  to  the 
rank  of  a  popular  science. 

Some  Jewish  exorcists — a  class  which  was  common 
among  the  "  dispersion  " — attempted  an  imitation  of  one 
of  the  miracles,  and  used  the  name  of  Jesus  as  a  charm. 
But  the  demoniac  regarded  such  arrogant  quackery  as  an 
insult,  and  took  an  immediate  vengeance  on  the  impostors 
— "Jesus  I  know,  and  Paul  I  am  acquainted  with,  but 
who  are  ye  ?  And  the  man  in  whom  the  evil  spirit  was, 
leaped  on  them,  and  overcame  them,  and  prevailed  against 
them,  so  that  they  fled  out  of  that  house  naked  and 
wounded.  And  this  was  known  to  all  the  Jews  and 
Greeks  also  dwelling  at  Ephesus,  and  fear  fell  on  them 
all,  and  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  was  magnified."  This 
sudden  and  signal  defeat  of  the  seven  sons  of  Sceva  pro- 
duced a  deep  and  general  sensation  among  the  Jews  and 
Greeks,  and  "  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus  was  magnified." 
Nay  more,  the  followers  of  magic  felt  themselves  so  utterly 
exposed  and  outdone,  that  they  "  confessed  and  showed 
their  deeds."  They  were  forced  to  bow  to  a  higher  power, 
and  acknowledge  that  their  "curious"  arts  were  mere 
pretence  and  delusion.  Books  containing  the  description 
of  the  secret  power  and  application  of  such  a  talisman 
must  have  been  eagerly  sought  and  highly  prized.  Those 
who  possessed  them  now  felt  their  entire  worthlessness ; 
and,  convinced  of  the  inutility  and  sin  of  studying  them, 


TEMPLE   OF  DIANA.  291 

or  even  keeping  them,  gathered  them  and  burnt  them 
"before  all  men" — an  open  act  of  homage  to  the  new 
and  mighty  power  which  Christianity  had  established 
among  them.  The  smoke  and  flame  of  those  rolls  were  a 
sacrificial  desecration  to  Diana — worse  and  more  alarming 
than  the  previous  burning  of  her  temple  by  the  madman 
Herostratus.  The  numerous  and  costly  books  were  then 
reckoned  up  in  price,  and  their  aggregate  value  was  found 
to  be  above  two  thousand  pounds  sterling.  The  sacred 
historian,  after  recording  so  decided  a  triumph,  adds  with 
hearty  emphasis — "  So  mightily  grew  the  word  of  God  and 
prevailed." 

But  "no  small  stir"  was  made  by  the  progress  of 
Christianity,  and  its  victorious  hostility  to  magic  and 
idolatry.  The  temple  of  Diana  or  the  Oriental  Artemis 
had  long  been  regarded  as  one  of  the  wonders  of  the 
world,  and  "all  Asia"  worshipped  the  goddess.  The 
city  claimed  a  title  which,  meaning  originally  "temple- 
sweeper,"  was  regarded  at  length  as  the  highest  honour, 
and  often  engraved  on  the  current  coinage.  The  town- 
clerk  artfully  introduced  the  mention  of  this  honour  into 
the  commencement  of  his  speech;  for  though  the  whole 
province  claimed  an  interest  in  the  temple,  and  it  was 
often  named  the  temple  of  Asia,  yet  Ephesus  enjoyed  the 
special  function  of  being  the  guardian  or  sacristan  of  the 
gaudy  edifice.  And  the  Ephesians  were  quite  fanatical 
in  their  admiration  and  wardenship  of  the  magnificent 
colonnades.  Their  quarries  of  Mount  Prion  had  supplied 
the  marble ;  the  art  and  wealth  of  Ephesian  citizens,  and 
the  jewellery  of  Ephesian  ladies,  had  been  plentifully 


292  PAUL  AT  EPHESUS. 

contributed  for  its  adornment;  its  hundred  and  twenty- 
seven  graceful  columns,  some  of  them  richly  carved  and 
coloured,  were  each  the  gift  of  a  king ;  its  doors,  ceiling, 
and  staircase  were  formed  respectively  of  cypress,  cedar, 
and  vinewood;  it  had  an  altar  by  Praxiteles,  and  a 
picture  by  Apelles ;  and  in  its  coffers  reposed  no  little 
of  the  opulence  of  Western  Asia.  A  many-breasted  idol 
of  wood,  rude  as  an  African  fetich,  was  worshipped  in  its 
shrine,  in  some  portion  of  which  a  meteoric  stone  may 
have  been  inserted,  the  token  of  its  being  "the  image 
that  fell  down  from  Jupiter."  Similar  superstitions  belong 
to  various  countries,  such  as  the  Palladium  of  Troy,  the 
Ceres  of  Sicily,  the  Minerva  Polias  of  Athens,  and  the 
Diana  of  Tauris.  Somewhat  of  the  same  nature  were  the 
shield  of  Mars  at  Rome,  the  black  stone  in  the  Caabah  at 
Mecca,  that  in  the  temple  of  the  Sun  at  Baal  bee,  and  the 
Lia  Fail,  or  stone  of  destiny,  on  which  the  Scottish  kings 
were  for  many  centuries  crowned  at  Scone.  Popularly 
supposed  in  those  ancient  times  to  be  a  portion  of  Jacob's 
pillar,  it  was  thought  to  be  so  connected  with  the  destiny 
of  the  kingdom,  that  wherever  it  happened  to  be,  there 
should  reign  the  Scottish  race,  and  though  it  was  removed 
by  Edward  to  Westminster  Abbey,  where  it  now  forms 
the  support  of  the  coronation  chair  of  the  British  sovereign, 
the  old  prophecy  was  fondly  believed  to  be  verified  when 
James  VI.  ascended  the  English  throne  on  the  death  of 
Elizabeth. 

Still  further,  a  flourishing  trade  was  carried  on  in  the 
manufacture  of  silver  shrines — medallions,  or  models  of 
a  portion  of  Diana's  temple.  These  are  often  referred 


SUBSIDENCE  OF  THE  TUMULT.  293 

to  by  ancient  writers ;  and  as  few  strangers  seem  to  have 
left  Ephesus  without  such  a  memorial  of  their  visit,  this 
artistic  business  "brought  no  small  gain  to  the  crafts- 
men." But  the  spread  of  Christianity  was  fast  destroy- 
ing such  gross  and  material  superstition  and  idolatry ; 
for  one  of  its  first  lessons  was,  as  Demetrius  rightly 
declared — "  They  be  no  gods  which  are  made  with  hands." 
The  shrewd  craftsman  summoned  together  his  brethren 
of  the  same  occupation,  laid  the  matter  before  them, 
represented  the  certain  ruin  of  their  manufacture,  and  the 
speedy  extinction  of  the  worship  of  Diana  of  Ephesus — 
"  So  that  not  only  this  our  craft  is  in  danger  to  be  set 
at  nought,  but  also  that  the  temple  of  the  great  goddess 
Diana  should  be  despised,  and  her  magnificence  should  be 
destroyed,  whom  all  Asia  and  the  world  worshippeth." 
The  trade  was  seized  with  a  panic,  and  raised  the  uproar- 
ious shout — "  Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians !  "  "  The 
whole  city  was  filled  with  confusion."  A  mob  was 
gathered,  and  seemed  on  the  eve  of  effecting  what  Deme- 
trius contemplated,  the  expulsion  or  assassination  of  the 
apostle  and  his  coadjutors  by  lawless  violence,  so  that  no 
one  could  be  singled  out  or  punished  for  the  outrage. 
The  emeute  was  so  sudden,  that  "  the  most  part  knew 
not  wherefore  they  had  come  together."  As  usual  on  such 
occasions  in  the  Greek  cities,  the  rush  was  to  the  theatre, 
to  receive  information  of  the  cause  and  character  of  the 
outbreak.  Two  of  Paul's  companions  were  seized  by  the 
crowd,  and  the  apostle,  who  had  escaped,  would  himself 
have  very  willingly  faced  the  angry  and  clamorous  rabble 
if  his  friends,  seconded  by  some  of  the  Asiarchs,  or  presi- 


294  PAUL  AT  EPHESUS. 

dents  of  the  games,  had  not  prevented  him.  A  Jew  named 
Alexander,  probably  the  "coppersmith,"  and,  as  a  Jew,  well 
known  to  be  an  opponent  of  idolatry,  strove  to  address  the 
meeting,  probably  to  vindicate  his  own  race  from  being  the 
cause  of  the  disturbance,  and  to  cast  all  the  blame  upon  the 
Christians.  But  his  appearance  was  the  signal  for  renewed 
clamour,  and  for  two  hours  the  theatre  resounded  with  the 
fanatical  yell — "  Great  is  Diana  of  the  Ephesians."  The 
"town-clerk"  or  recorder,  a  magistrate  of  high  standing  and 
multifarious  and  responsible  functions  in  these  cities,  had 
the  dexterity  to  pacify  and  dismiss  the  rioters,  first,  by  a 
judicious  admixture  of  flattery,  and  then  by  sound  legal 
advice,  telling  them  that  the  law  was  open,  that  the  great 
Ephesian  assize  was  going  on,  and  that  all  charges  might 
be  formally  determined  before  the  sitting  tribunal.  Such 
a  scene  could  not  fail  to  excite  more  inquiry  into  the 
principles  of  the  new  religion,  and  bring  more  converts 
within  its  pale.  After  the  tumult,  the  apostle,  having 
called  unto  him  the  disciples  and  embraced  them,  imme- 
diately left  the  city. 


XIII.— PAUL  AT  TEOAS. 

ACTS  £x.  5—12. 

BEFORE  he  left  Ephesus,  the  apostle  had  formed  the 
resolution  of  visiting  Macedonia  and  Achaia  on  his  way 
toward  Jerusalem.  In  the  meantime  he  had  sent  as  his 
pioneers  into  Greece,  Timothy  and  Erastus  the  chamber- 
lain. But  after  the  tumult  in  the  city  of  Diana,  he  left 
at  once  for  Macedonia — "And  when  he  had  gone  over 
those  parts,  and  had  given  them  much  exhortation,  he 
came  into  Greece."  It  would  appear  that  the  apostle 
stayed  some  time  at  Troas,  where  "  a  door  was  opened  unto 
him  of  the  Lord."  But  having  "no  rest"  in  his  spirit 
because  he  found  not  Titus,  and  unable  longer  to  endure 
the  suspense,  he  sailed  by  himself  for  Macedonia.  Some- 
where in  this  province  Titus  met  him,  and  though  he 
says,  "Our  flesh  had  no  rest,  but  we  were  troubled  on 
every  side — without  were  fightings,  within  were  fears,"  yet 
he  admits  that  the  good  report  which  Titus  brought  from 
Corinth  filled  him  with  comfort  and  joy.  It  is  probable 
that  at  this  period  he  extended  his  journey  to  the  west, 
and  travelled  as  far  as  Illyricum,  preaching  the  gospel,  as 
he  tells  the  Koman  church  in  an  epistle  written  soon  after. 
In  Greece,  that  is,  southern  Greece  as  distinguished  from 
Macedonia,  he  "abode  three  months."  "As  he  was 
about  to  sail  into  Syria,"  the  Jews,  unchanged  in  their 
animosity,  laid  wait  for  him,  so  that  he  altered  his  deter- 


296  PAUL  AT  TROAS. 

mination,  and  purposed  to  return  through  Macedonia. 
Seven  friends  accompanied  him,  representing  the  Asiatic 
and  European  churches,  and  probably  intrusted  with  the 
offerings  made  for  the  poor  saints  at  Jerusalem ;  and  "  these 
going  before  tarried  for  us  at  Troas."  Leaving  Philippi, 
the  apostle,  after  a  few  days'  sailing  amidst  adverse  winds 
and  currents,  arrived  at  Troas,  and  there  "abode  seven 
days,"  the  last  of  them  being  a  Sabbath. 

The  "  first  day  of  the  week  "  appears  to  have  been  the 
usual  period  of  assembly,  and  no  doubt  was  selected  and 
consecrated  by  apostolical  authority.  It  was  held  in 
honour  of  the  Saviour's  resurrection — that  event  which 
proved  His  mission  divine,  His  mediation  effectual,  and 
His  combat  with  death  and  hell  victorious.  Being  the 
day  of  the  Lord's  resurrection,  it  was  noted  as  His  day — 
"  the  Lord's  day,"  when  His  people  meet  for  His  worship 
and  His  truth  is  expounded,  His  name  chaunted,  His 
Spirit  poured  down,  His  presence  enjoyed,  and  His  death 
showed  forth.  The  place  of  meeting  in  Troas  would  be  an 
humble  one,  with  no  architectural  decorations,  the  private 
dwelling  of  some  large-hearted  disciple,  in  whose  upper 
chamber  the  sacred  feast  was  observed.  It  would  appear 
that  at  first  in  Jerusalem,  when  the  disciples  kept  free 
table,  or  "  had  all  things  common,"  every  meal  was  a 
sacramental  feast,  or  that  it  was  connected  with  every 
meal,  as  it  had  been  with  the  paschal  banquet.  It  was 
therefore  not  as  with  us,  the  mere  emblem  of  a  feast — 
only  the  symbol  of  a  symbolical  feast.  Out  of  this  old 
practice  may  have  sprung  its  early  division  into  a  love 
feast  and  a  sacrament.  The  church  at  Troas  may  have 
possessed  no  regular  organization,  but  the  disciples  could 


THE  FIRST  DAY  OF  THE  WEEK.  297 

meet  in  hearty  fellowship,  and  eat  and  drink  in  memory  of 
the  crucified  One.  Twice  had  Paul  been  in  that  city 
before ;  the  first  time  when  he  was  hurried  across  to  Europe, 
and  again  on  his  second  visit  to  Macedonia,  when  he  seems 
to  have  lingered  some  time  waiting  for  Titus.  During 
this  third  visit  he  stayed  a  week,  and  preached  on  the 
Lord's  day. 

The  disciples  must  have  rejoiced  at  their  privilege,  and 
eagerly  embraced  it.  What  could  keep  any  of  them  back 
from  enjoying  Paul  ?  Alas !  that  so  many  in  modern  times 
regard  so  little  the  first  day  of  the  week,  or  weary  on 
it  only  for  the  coming  of  the  second,  reckoning  Sunday 
a  mere  interruption  between  Saturday  and  Monday,  or 
otherwise  profaning  it  in  the  pursuit  of  lawless  pleasure  or 
pastime.  And  even  of  those  who  "  come  together,"  how 
many  stay  away  for  very  trivial  reasons,  a  passing  cloud 
throwing  a  chiller  shadow  upon  their  souls  than  it  does 
upon  the  earth,  and  betokening  a  fall  in  their  religious 
affections  deeper  than  the  depression  of  the  barometer.  If 
one  may  thus  absent  himself,  why  may  not  all ;  the 
minister,  too,  as  well  as  any  of  the  people  ?  Who  keeps 
at  home  for  such  a  paltry  reason  from  a  scene  of  secular 
enjoyment,  or  the  place  of  ordinary  business  ?  Are  there 
not  many  sicknesses  so  cunning  in  their  coming  and  going, 
so  endowed  with  forethought  as  never  to  invade  a  week- 
day, but  to  appear  with  the  dawn  of  Sabbath  and  dis- 
appear on  its  evening?  Is  it  not  a  law  of  our  nature 
that  difficulties  grow  with  indulgence,  and  if  weather 
regulate  church-going,  other  barriers  will  soon  make  them- 
selves be  felt — irregularity  followed  by  long  pauses,  and 


298  PAUL  AT  TROAS. 

ending  in  utter  spiritual  remissness  and  death.  Does  not 
such  fluctuation  in  duty  deprive  one  of  the  divine  promise, 
and  may  it  not  rob  him  of  the  very  word  which  was 
adapted  to  his  benefit?  And  if  heaven  is  an  eternal 
Sabbath  for  which  this  recurring  Sabbath  prepares,  how 
can  any  one  hope  to  enjoy  it  who  cries  out  as  to  "the 
weariness  "  of  the  periodical  rest  on  earth — who  finds  not 
exceeding  luxury  in  social  worship,  or  who  regards  not 
the  day  which  God  has  blessed  and  sanctified  as  the 
happiest,  holiest  day  of  all  the  seven  ? 

"  Light  of  light !  enlighten  me, 

Now  anew  the  day  is  dawning ; 
Sun  of  grace !  the  shadows  flee, 

Brighten  Thou  my  Sabbath  morning. 
With  Thy  joyous  sunshine  blest, 
Happy  is  my  day  of  rest! 

"  Kindle  thou  the  sacrifice 

That  upon  my  lips  is  lying ; 
Clear  the  shadows  from  my  eyes 

That,  from  every  error  flying, 
No  strange  fire  within  me  glow, 
That  Thine  altar  doth  not  know. 

"  Let  me  with  my  heart,  to-day, 

Holy,  holy,  holy,  singing, 
Rapt  awhile  from  earth  away, 

All  my  soul  to  Thee  up-springing, 
Have  a  foretaste  inly  given 
How  they  worship  Thee  in  heaven. 

"  Hence  all  care,  all  vanity, 

For  the  day  to  God  is  holy ; 
Come,  Thou  glorious  Majesty, 

Deign  to  fill  this  temple  lowly : 
Nought  to-day  my  soul  shall  move, 
Simply  resting  in  Thy  love ! " 


THE  INSPIRED  MEN  OF  THE  THEOCRACY.  299 

"  And  upon  the  first  day  of  the  week,  when  the  disciples 
came  together  to  break  bread,  Paul  preached  unto  them, 
ready  to  depart  on  the  morrow,  and  continued  his  speech 
until  midnight."  Paul  preached  unto  them — the  Trojan 
church.  Preaching  was  his  function.  It  was  the  high 
office  to  which  he  had  been  set  apart  by  Him  whom  He 
preached.  The  inspired  men  under  the  Old  Testament 
did  not  preach.  They  proclaimed  the  will  of  God  in 
a  variety  of  forms.  Moses  enacted  statutes,  prescribed 
duty,  and  predicted  national  results,  as  patriot  and  legis- 
lator ;  Joshua,  after  his  sword  was  sheathed,  swore  the 
nation  to  fidelity ;  Samuel  judged  and  taught  with  divine 
authority;  David  sang  as  saint  and  king,  and  gave 
utterance  to  emotions  common  to  the  church  in  every 
age ;  Elijah  challenged  and  battled  for  God  in  days  of 
idolatrous  degeneracy ;  Solomon  embodied  his  experience 
in  pithy  and  pointed  sentences — each  as  a  ll  nail  fastened 
in  a  sure  place  " — and  even  in  that  book  where  he  calls 
himself  "  the  preacher,"  he  declaims  chiefly  on  the  vanity 
of  human  pursuits  and  enjoyments.  The  prophets  as  a 
body  portrayed  present  obligation  and  future  crises.  The 
burdens  pronounced  by  Isaiah  ring  over  Babylon,  sweep 
through  the  wilderness,  and  are  borne  up  the  Nile. 
Jeremiah,  Ezekiel,  and  Daniel  interest  themselves  with 
national  affairs  and  theocratic  history  and  relations.  Oba- 
diah  seals  the  fate  of  Edom,  and  Haggai  and  Malachi 
censure  the  selfishness  of  their  age.  These  old  seers 
foretold  Messiah,  but  did  not  exhibit  Him ;  they  pictured 
Him,  but  did  not  preach  Him.  Their  style  is  often  dark 
in  its  gorgeous  drapery.  Figure  and  hyperbole,  sudden 


300  PAUL  AT  TROAS. 

changes  and  dramatic  visions  distinguish  them.  Now  it 
is  the  warlike  note  of  a  trumpet,  and  now  it  is  the  wail  of 
a  dirge ;  now  it  is  a  peal  of  thunder,  and  now  a  night  of 
woe  and  havoc ;  and  now  a  flood  of  that  "  unearthly  lustre 
which  ne'er  was  seen  on  sky  or  shore."  But  the  apostle 
preached — taught  the  simplest  truths  in  direct  and  plainest 
shape,  threw  around  them  no  embellishment,  but  placed 
them  under  clear  sunlight,  so  that  each  might  perceive 
and  comprehend  them.  He  spoke  not  of  the  fortunes  of 
nations,  but  of  churches ;  detailed  not  the  annals  of  king- 
doms, but  strove  to  make  each  man's  history  an  image  of 
Christ's,  dating  from  a  new  birth  and  opening  into  life 
eternal.  His  work  was  with  souls — their  condition  and 
duty ;  and  he  portrayed  the  one  and  enforced  the  other  so 
lucidly  and  fully,  that  each  saw  himself  in  the  portrait, 
and  recognized  his  obligation  in  the  appeal 

The  Greek  critic  Longinus  says,  "  that  Saul  of  Tarsus, 
as  an  orator,  was  the  first  who  excelled  in  undemonstrated 
statements,"  which  probably  may  be  taken  by  us  as  mean- 
ing that  he  spoke  and  wrote  with  such  a  consciousness  of 
truth,  that  he  did  not  reason  out  his  assertions  as  if  they 
might  be  doubted,  or  state  premises  and  draw  formal  syllo- 
gistic conclusions.  His  was  no  artificial  rhetoric,  elaborated 
according  to  rule  and  method — "We  also  believe,  and 
therefore  speak."  He  threw  out  his  glowing  thoughts 
rudely  sometimes,  but  never  feebly ;  in  broken  sentences 
and  disorderly  constructions,  but  ever  with  a  force  that 
proved  his  sincerity,  and  tended  to  beget  a  sympathy 
with  his  fervour.  He  who  delivers  an  oracle  must  speak 
very  differently  from  a  practised  sophist.  He  who  had 


PREACHING  HIS  WORK  AND  WONT.  301 

seen  the  Lord  in  glory  could  not  tell  of  Him  in  tardy  or 
doubtful  terms,  could  not  waste  his  time  in  wading  among 
neutral  questions,  and  could  not  speak  as  if  he  were  pro- 
pounding some  philosophic  novelty  which  needed  a  high 
effort  of  logic  and  oratory  to  recommend  it. 

Paul  preached  unto  them — it  had  been  his  wont.  It 
was  his  usual  mode  of  address.  Wherever  he  found 
himself  he  preached.  If  he  travelled,  it  was  to  preach ;  at 
the  stages  where  he  rested  he  preached,  and  when  he  came 
to  the  end  of  the  journey  he  preached.  No  matter  who 
composed  his  audience — the  Jew  or  the  Gentile,  the 
rustic  or  the  intelligent,  the  philosophical  people  of  Athens 
or  the  debauched  residents  of  Corinth — he  preached.  He 
never  feared  frown  nor  scourge,  the  sneer  of  the  sophist 
nor  the  senseless  laugh  of  the  profligate.  Meet  with 
him  where  you  will,  you  hear  him  preach.  You  do 
not  discover  him  surveying  ruins  or  measuring  temples, 
admiring  works  of  art,  or  mingling  with  the  populace  for 
the  sake  of  amusement,  that  he  might  smile  at  their  follies 
or  learn  their  customs.  You  do  not  find  him  at  Troas 
exploring  the  scenes  of  the  great  legend,  the  "  tale  of  Troy 
divine,"  before  which  Achilles  fought,  Agamemnon  ruled, 
Ulysses  counselled,  and  Ajax  heaved  his  strength — "the 
bulwark  of  the  Greeks  " — by  the  banks  of  the  Simois  and 
Scamander.  No;  every  man  he  beheld  filled  him  with 
sorrow  and  hope,  for  that  precious  soul  was  soon  to  pass 
into  the  presence  of  the  Judge.  He  saw  him  as  Christ 
saw  him ;  not  as  a  Greek  or  a  Jew,  a  rich  man  or  a  poor 
man — but  a  human  being,  guilty  and  helpless,  to  whom 
salvation  might  be  offered,  and  by  whom  it  should  be 


302  PAUL  AT  TEOAS. 

accepted ;  saw  his  soul  in  its  value  and  destiny — undone 
if  unbelieving — and  urged  him  to  accept  Christ  and  His 
cross.  And  therefore  he  preached,  "  warning  every  man, 
and  teaching  every  man  in  all  wisdom." 

Paul  preached  unto  them;  what  else  could  he  do? 
Necessity  was  laid  upon  him — "  Yea,  woe  is  unto  me,"  says 
he,  "  if  I  preach  not  the  gospel."  What  other  substitute 
for  preaching  can  be  devised  ?  Ceremonial  will  not  do ; 
souls  may  perish  in  ignorance  amidst  genuflections  and 
music.  Satire  will  not  suffice.  What  effect  had  Juvenal 
and  Martial  on  their  age,  or  on  the  world  ?  It  is  far  from 
being  a  perfect  work  to  cast  contempt  on  society  for  its 
frivolous  and  unmanly  attachments ;  to  expose  the  hollow- 
ness  of  civilization,  and  call  its  pursuits  a  sham.  To 
exhaust  the  vocabulary  of  scorn  and  vituperation,  or  to 
denounce  with  bitterest  eloquence  the  want  of  faith  and 
sympathy,  exposing  what  is  evil,  without  pointing  what  is 
good  and  wooing  men  to  do  it ;  to  throw  gleams  of  ethereal 
beauty  over  the  darkest  picture  of  man  and  his  misery, 
with  the  genius  of  a  poet  and  the  grim  mood  of  a  prophet, 
and  yet  to  open  up  no  refuge  for  him,  and  ply  him  with 
no  arguments  to  rush  into  it — is  only  to  mock  him — to  give 
him  a  stone  for  bread  when  he  is  hungry.  This  is  not  the 
preaching  of  the  apostle.  His  was  a  nobler  work.  If 
he  cursed,  he  likewise  blessed ;  if  he  thundered,  he  also 
wept;  if  he  scathed  and  killed,  he  at  the  same  time 
brought  life  and  health.  It  is  no  gospel  to  tell  men  what 
they  are,  without  showing  them  what  they  might  be ;  to 
prove  them  dupes  and  wretches  without  pressing  upon 
them  truth  and  blessing.  One  can  conceive  the  glee  of  a 


THE  GLORY  OF  PREACHING.  303 

fiend  as  he  alternately  frightened  and  soothed  men — 
indulging  in  the  work  as  a  prime  gratification — for  it  did 
no  good,  but  only  inflicted  misery.  But  far  different  was 
Paul.  He  taught  salvation — preached  Christ ;  showed  the 
path  of  glory ;  never  spoke  of  guilt  without  speaking  of 
the  blood  of  expiation;  never  expounded  our  condition 
without  inviting  us  to  deliverance ;  or  declared  our  destiny 
without  assuring  us  that  life  and  immortality  have  been 
brought  to  light.  If  preaching  was  the  presentation  of  the 
good  news,  what  else  could  the  apostle  do  than  preach  ? 

Paul  preached  unto  them;  what  better  could  he  do? 
Had  he  any  other  news  which  could  be  called  good  news, 
or  any  other  speculation  fraught  with  spiritual  power  and 
joy?  Was  there  any  salvation  but  by  the  cross  —  any 
other  road  to  heaven  but  that  by  Calvary  ?  He  had  no 
alternative  gospel,  and  he  allowed  no  choice.  He  might 
have  done  many  things — might  have  prelected  on  Jewish 
history  or  Grecian  philosophy;  delivered  his  views  of 
man's  mental  and  moral  nature;  described  what  he  had 
passed  through — the  peoples  he  had  seen,  and  the  scenes  he 
had  visited ;  how  he  had  been  lacerated  by  the  scourge, 
and  tossed  upon  the  billow ;  delineated  what  was  striking 
in  his  experience  of  men  and  manners — sometimes  the 
materials  of  a  comedy,  and  oftener  those  of  a  tragedy ;  or 
he  might  have  given  readings  from  the  bards  of  Judea, 
or  the  orators  and  dramatists  of  Greece.  But  with  such 
employment  never  could  he  have  saved  a  soul,  or  gathered 
a  church.  Preaching  far  excels  philosophy  and  oratory, 
and  yet  it  is  genuine  philosophy  and  living  oratory.  No 
romance  equals  in  wonder  the  story  of  the  cross;  no 


304  PAUL  AT  TEOAS. 

shapes  of  wonder  have  the  divine  style  of  Christianity; 
and  no  mode  of  speaking  can  surpass,  in  pathos  and  pene- 
tration, that  of  a  man  to  his  sinful  fellows,  on  the  themes 
of  God  and  eternity,  Christ  and  heaven.  A  sermon  is  not 
a  harangue  constructed  so  as  to  be  praised  for  its  depth, 
its  fancy,  or  its  elaborate  paragraphs  ;  nor  is  it  a  piece  of 
rhetoric  to  be  executed  before  an  admiring  audience.  The 
preacher  is  not  like  Demosthenes  declaiming  on  Mace- 
donian invasion,  Cicero  on  Catiline's  conspiracy,  Chatham 
on  continental  hostilities,  Burke  on  the  French  revolu- 
tion, Pitt  on  democratic  aggression,  Fox  on  the  repeal 
of  an  obnoxious  tax,  Canning  on  the  balance  of  power, 
Brougham  on  slavery,  or  Peel  on  fiscal  regulations.  For  he 
has  a  higher  aim  than  to  repel  the  invader,  and  deliver 
his  country  from  change,  turmoil,  or  tyranny — a  higher 
aim  than  to  emancipate  the  fettered,  secure  peace  among 
nations,  or  fill  their  harbours  with  ships  and  their  ware- 
houses with  costly  imports — a  higher  aim  than  to  raise 
and  enlighten  the  masses,  loosen  the  shackles  of  com- 
merce, and  lighten  the  springs  of  industry,  so  that  none 
may  stand  "in  the  market-place  idle"  because  no  man  hath 
hired  him,  and  every  one  hired  be  amply  compensated  for 
bearing  the  "  burden  and  heat  of  the  day."  These  may  be 
the  results,  but  they  are  not  the  end.  While  the  preacher 
may  not  withhold  himself  from  the  advocacy  in  its  place  of 
any  just  and  liberal  measure  having  man's  good  in  view 
in  any  respect — his  aim  stretches  beyond  all  those  aims  ; 
for  they  may  be  enjoyed,  and  yet  the  object  of  the  gospel 
not  be  realized. 

Nor  must  he  wait  till  those  ends  be  secured.     Shall 


POWER  OF  THE  GOSPEL.  305 

the  physician  abnegate  his  function,  and  refuse  to  attend 
the  sick  man  till  he  is  convalescent?  The  gospel  does 
not  haughtily  stand  back  from  the  slave,  and  refuse  to 
embrace  him  till  his  chain  be  broken,  but  it  gives  him 
spiritual  hopes  and  freedom  in  his  captivity.  It  does  not 
pause  at  the  frontier  of  a  nation  groaning  under  tyranny, 
but  it  enters  and  gives  its  liberty  to  the  oppressed.  It 
meets  man  in  any  condition,  and  cheers  and  blesses  him. 
It  needs  not  civilization  to  precede  it.  It  does  not  require 
that  man  shall  have  all  that  earth  can  give  him,  ere  it  turn 
his  hope  to  heaven.  No ;  as  it  finds  him,  it  appeals  to  him 
and  bids  him  believe  it.  Still,  though  it  be  independent  of 
external  influences,  its  results  are  all  of  an  ennobling 
character,  and  it  gives  stability  to  education,  liberty, 
government,  and  commerce.  The  advancement  of  man's 
spiritual  good  tends  to  elevate  his  temporal  condition. 
It  gives  him  the  consciousness  of  being  a  child  of  God  and 
an  heir  of  immortality,  and  teaches  him  to  act  in  no  sense 
inconsistently  with  his  dignity  and  prospects.  It  leads  its 
disciple  to  glory,  but  forgets  him  not  on  his  journey  toward 
it.  His  title  to  heaven  enables  him  to  assert  his  posi- 
tion on  earth.  Christ  has  bought  him,  and  why  should  he 
be  the  slave  of  man  ?  If  he  can  be  free,  he  will  "  use  it 
rather."  He  may  not  at  all  times  succeed,  but,  though 
the  day  of  his  death  be  the  first  day  of  his  emancipation, 
he  has  been  ransomed  by  the  precious  blood  of  Christ,  and 
he  enters  into  rest.  Is  not  this  the  glory  of  the  gospel, 
that  it  salutes  man  everywhere  and  in  every  condition? 
It  is  not  ashamed  of  his  fetters,  nor  repelled  by  the  colour 
of  his  skin.  It  shrinks  not  from  the  gloom  of  the  dungeon, 

U 


306  PAUL  AT  TEOAS. 

or  the  dreariness  of  the  work-house,  and  revolts  not  at  the 
bleeding  couches  of  the  hospital.  It  is  neither  awed  by 
a  coronet,  nor  shamed  away  by  the  bared  and  cold  hoari- 
ness  of  age.  It  offers  itself  as  freely  to  him  in  purple  and 
fine  linen  in  the  mansion,  as  to  him  who  is  huddled  in 
rags  at  the  gate.  It  crosses  the  frontier  and  laughs  at  the 
sentinel's  bayonet  ;  it  has  its  good  centurions  in  the  army ; 
it  enters  the  barrack  in  spite  of  its  dissipation ;  its  sunshine 
fills  the  cottage;  nay,  it  "is  found  in  kings'  palaces," 
and  it  triumphs  in  the  midst  of  licentiousness  and  blood 
— "They  that  are  of  Caesar's  household  salute  you." 

Paul  preached  unto  them — what  better  could  the  apostle 
do  than  preach  ?  preach  with  all  that  power  which  distin- 
guished him,  as  well  as  with  that  knowledge  and  applica- 
tion of  the  scripture,  that  keen  insight  into  human  nature, 
that  perfect  mastery  of  motives,  that  entire  self-abnegation, 
and  that  earnest  and  repeated  pressing  of  his  theme  upon 
his  audience,  for  life  and  death  were  at  stake — by  which 
his  reported  addresses  are  characterized.  He  was  unpre- 
tending, indeed,  in  appearance,  feeble  in  health,  and  agitated 
by  the  various  passions  of  his  soul ;  his  strength  was  in 
his  frailty;  "his  speech  was  contemptible,"  "rude,"  as  he 
admits,  possibly  in  accent  and  gesture,  but  glorious  in  its 
theme,  and  mighty  in  the  faith  and  fervour  of  him  who 
employed  it — 

"  Weary  souls  by  thee  are  lifted ; 
Struggling  souls  by  thee  are  strengthened ; 
Cloud  of  fear  asunder  rifted ; 
Truth  from  falsehood  cleansed  and  sifted ; 
Lives  like  days  in  summer  lengthened." 

It  may  be  inferred  from  the  narrative,  that,  as  an  apostle, 


307 

lie  presided  at  the  ordinance  of  the  Supper.  How  memo- 
rable such  a  scene  in  that  church  on  the  night  when  Paul 
broke  the  bread  of  life  in  the  Master's  name,  and  gave 
thanks  over  it  after  the  Master's  example !  From  the  lips  of 
that  weak  and  worn-out  traveller,  what  words  of  truth  and 
power  would  flow!  How  he  would  speak  of  the  death  of 
Christ — he  who  had  himself  been  "crucified  with  Christ!" 
With  what  impressive  power  he  would  revert  to  the  scenes 
of  the  last  sufferings — the  agony  in  the  garden,  the  capture 
and  trial,  the  sentence  and  the  scourging,  the  procession  to 
the  cross,  and  the  torture  endured  upon  it,  till  He  "bowed 
His  head  and  gave  up  the  ghost ! "  How  he  would  glow 
as  he  spoke  of  that  love  which  the  Kedeemer  displayed 
in  dying  for  lost  souls ;  of  the  meekness  of  His  character 
and  the  openness  of  His  heart ;  of  the  tears  He  shed,  and 
the  wise  and  affectionate  words  which  He  uttered  ;  of  the 
deeds  of  mercy  He  did,  and  the  pure  and  fascinating  life 
which  He  led !  How  his  heart  would  melt,  and  his  accents 
thrill,  as  he  repeated  the  words — "  Take,  eat ;  this  is  my 
body."  How  he  would  speak,  as  he  felt  from  the  deeps 
of  his  own  enraptured  experience,  words  of  electric  power, 
stirring  those  whom  he  addressed  into  kindred  emotion. 

The  eating  of  bread  and  drinking  of  wine  betoken  a 
feast  and  a  family  circle.  Might  not  the  apostle  dilate  on 
that  love  which  Christians  should  display  to  one  another 
—  each  loving  the  image  of  Christ  —  praying  for  one 
another's  welfare,  and  striving  together  for  it ;  drawing  the 
bonds  of  the  gospel  closer  round  them ;  "kindly  afFectioned 
one  to  another" — "in  honour  preferring  one  another?"  O 
what  a  cheering  banquet  it  must  have  been,  with  the 


308  PAUL  AT  TKOAS. 

principal  part  of  the  conversation  sustained  by  Paul,  on 
his  last  journey  to  Jerusalem,  and  under  the  solemn  im- 
pression that  his  career  was  drawing  to  a  close.  The 
fragrance  and  softness  of  heaven  would  breathe  in  his 
words,  as  he  counselled  the  communicants  to  remember 
Jesus,  to  grow  in  faith  on  Him,  to  pray  for  more  likeness 
to  Him,  to  serve  Him  yet  more  devotedly,  and  suffer  for 
Him  yet  more  joyously — to  bear  Him  in  their  hearts,  and 
manifest  Him  in  their  lives. 

The  apostle  "continued  his  speech  till  midnight"- — the 
interview,  as  being  the  last,  was  naturally  prolonged.  There 
were  "many  lights  in  the  upper  chamber" — the  moon  was 
but  young — and  the  assembly  cared  not  though  they  were 
seen  of  all  men.  A  young  man  seated  on  the  bottom  of  the 
unclosed  window  became  overpowered  with  sleep,  and  fell 
into  the  court  from  the  "  third  loft,"  in  which  the  upper 
room  was  situated.  But  the  consternation  at  this  fearful 
incident  was  hushed  at  once,  when  Paul,  acting  like  Elisha, 
"  went  down  and  fell  on  him,  and,  embracing  him,  said, 
Trouble  not  yourselves,  for  his  life  is  in  him" — as  restored 
to  him  by  miracle.  After  the  miracle  the  conversation  was 
renewed,  and  carried  on  till  the  morning  broke  upon  the 
heights  of  Ida :  then  the  sad  farewells  were  exchanged — 
"  so  he  departed.'* 


XIV.— PAUL  AT  MILETUS. 

ACTS  xx.  17—38. 

ON  leaving  Troas,  the  companions  of  the  apostle  took 
shipping  for  Assos,  and  left  him  to  walk  to  that  town 
by  land.  The  distance  is  twenty-four  Roman  miles,  and 
we  do  not  know  why  the  apostle  preferred  a  solitary 
pedestrian  journey,  but  we  are  told,  "for  so  had  he 
appointed,  minding  himself  to  go  afoot."  No  doubt  he 
wished  to  be  as  long  with  the  Trojan  converts  as  possible, 
and  he  saved  himself  a  tedious  voyage,  as  the  vessel  had 
to  round  the  promontory  of  Lectum  before  it  reached 
Assos.  He  met  his  company  at  Assos,  and  embarking 
with  them  "  came  to  Mitylene,"  the  capital  of  Lesbos,  a 
voyage  of  about  thirty  miles.  The  next  day  they  were 
"  over  against  Chios,"  the  modern  isle  of  Scio ;  the  follow- 
ing day  they  arrived  at  Samos,  remaining  for  the  night 
at  Trogyllium,  and  on  the  morrow  they  came  to  Miletus,  a 
seaport  about  thirty  miles  from  Ephesus.  The  reason  why 
the  apostle  did  not  visit  the  latter  city  is  thus  given — 
"For  Paul  had  determined  to  sail  by7' — that  is,  past — 
"  Ephesus,  because  he  would  not  spend  the  time  in  Asia ; 
for  he  hasted,  if  it  were  possible  for  him,  to  be  at  Jeru- 
salem the  day  of  Pentecost." 

The   apostle  could  not  go  himself  to  Ephesus,  either 
lest  his  presence  should  be  the  occasion  of  another  tumult, 


310  PAUL  AT  MILETUS. 

or  lest  his  journey  to  Jerusalem  should  "be  retarded,  and 
his  arrival  before  Pentecost  rendered  impossible ;  nor  could 
he  summon  the  entire  church  to  him,  as  such  a  large  con- 
course might  have  excited  suspicions,  and  led  to  dangerous 
consequences.  But  he  convened  the  elders,  as  the  rulers 
and  representatives  of  the  church,  and  delivered  them  his 
counsels.  His  very  words  seem  to  have  been  preserved, 
and  thus  he  spoke — "  Ye  know  yourselves,  from  the  first 
day  that  I  came  into  Asia,  after  what  manner  I  have  been 
with  you  during  the  whole  time,  serving  the  Lord  with 
all  humility,  and  with  tears  and  trials  befalling  me  through 
the  plots  of  the  Jews ;  how  I  have  kept  back  none  of  the 
things  which  are  profitable  to  you,  so  as  not  to  tell  and  to 
teach  you  in  public  and  from  house  to  house,  testifying 
both  to  Jews  and  also  to  Greeks  repentance  towards  God 
and  faith  towards  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And  now, 
behold,  I  go  bound  in  spirit  to  Jerusalem,  not  knowing 
the  things  about  to  encounter  me  there:  save  that  the  Holy 
Ghost  testifies  to  me  from  city  to  city  that  bonds  and 
afflictions  await  me  (in  Jerusalem).  But  I  hold  my  life  of 
no  account,  not  even  so  precious  to  myself  as  to  finish 
my  course  with  joy,  to  wit  the  ministry  which  I  have 
received  from  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  testify  the  gospel  of  the 
grace  of  God.  And  now,  behold,  I  know  that  you  all, 
among  whom  I  went  about  preaching  the  kingdom,  shall 
see  my  face  no  more.  Wherefore  I  take  you  to  witness 
this  very  day  that  I  am  clear  from  the  blood  of  all ;  for  I 
have  not  kept  back  from  declaring  to  you  the  whole  counsel 
of  God.  Take  heed  to  yourselves,  therefore,  and  to  all 
the  flock  in  which  the  Holy  Ghost  has  made  you  over- 


WARNING  AND  FAEEWELL.  311 

seers,  to  feed  the  church  of  God  which  He  has  purchased 
with  His  own  blood.  I  know  that  after  my  departure 
shall  grievous  wolves  enter  in  among  you,  not  sparing  the 
flock.  And  also  out  of  your  own  selves  shall  men  arise, 
speaking  perverted  things,  so  as  to  draw  away  disciples 
after  them.  Therefore  watch,  remembering  that,  for  the 
space  of  three  years,  night  and  day  I  ceased  not  with 
tears  to  warn  every  one  of  you.  And  now,  brethren,  I 
commend  you  to  God,  and  to  the  word  of  His  grace,  even 
to  Him  who  is  able  to  build  you  up,  and  give  you  an 
inheritance  among  all  them  that  are  sanctified.  Silver,  or 
gold,  or  raiment  of  no  one  did  I  covet.  Ye  yourselves 
know,  that  to  my  wants,  and  to  those  who  were  with  me, 
these  hands  ministered.  In  all  ways  (by  example  as  well 
as  by  doctrine)  I  showed  you  that  it  is  bounden  on  you  so 
to  labour  as  to  support  the  helpless,  to  remember,  too,  the 
words  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  that  Himself  said — i  It  is  more 
blessed  to  give  than  to  receive/  " 


312  PAUL  AT  MILETUS. 


INTRODUCTORY  APPEAL   TO   THE   PAST — HIS   FIDELITY. 

The  apostle  begins  by  appealing  to  their  own  experience 
of  himself.  His  whole  conduct  was  patent  to  them — "  Ye 
know  from  the  first  day  that  I  came  unto  Asia  after  what 
manner  I  have  been  with  you  at  all  seasons  " — the  entire 
time.  His  object  is  not  to  glorify  himself,  or  so  to  picture 
his  life  as  to  induce  their  admiration,  as  if  they  had  not 
already  paid  him  sufficient  homage.  But  he  bids  them 
follow  his  example,  and  imitate  his  patience,  his  courage, 
his  tenderness,  and  his  unwearied  effort  to  win  souls  to 
Christ.  His  was  no  life  of  idleness ;  he  travelled  but  to 
labour,  and  laboured  that  he  might  find  leisure  to  travel 
again  and  work  at  the  end  of  his  journey. 

And  he  characterizes  his  career  as  that  of  one  "  serving 
the  Lord."  The  Lord  had  special  claims  on  his  service ; 
for  he  had  arrested  him,  and  had  changed  and  blessed  him. 
The  Lord  had  bought  him,  and  he  could  not  but  serve 
such  a  master.  The  bond  of  redeeming  love  laid  him 
under  solemn  obligations  which  he  uniformly  felt.  His, 
too,  was  special  service,  that  which  the  Lord  both  enjoins 
and  exemplifies.  The  Lord's  work  in  heaven  is  salvation, 
and  Paul's  service  on  earth  was  identical  with  it.  The 
instrument  he  wrought  with  was  the  highest  form  of  truth 
— the  gospel;  and  the  sphere  of  his  operations  was  the 
most  precious  on  earth — man's  immortal  soul.  And  he 


PEKSECUTION-S  AT  EPHESUS.  313 

served  not  as  a  hireling  5  his  heart  was  wholly  in  his 
work  ;  the  conversion  of  sinners  was  a  pure  passion  within 
him.  He  spent  himself  in  this  work,  and  delighted  to 
spend  himself  in  it.  He  could  not  live  for  a  holier  pur- 
pose, nor  die  in  a  nobler  cause.  And  though  his  honour 
was  commensurate  with  his  toil,  yet  he  served  "  with  all 
humility."  He  never  was  elated,  as  if  he  had  done  too 
much,  or  even  was  satisfied,  as  if  he  had  done  enough. 
"Less  than  the  least  of  all  saints,"  he  styles  himself  in 
a  letter  to  this  church,  the  elders  of  which  he  was  now 
addressing. 

Though  his  preaching  had  provoked  fierce  opposition,  his 
brave  heart  quailed  not,  but  he  wept  as  he  laboured — he 
served  "  with  many  tears."  He  wept  not  for  himself,  but 
for  his  foes.  His  tears  were  wholly  unselfish,  like  those 
of  his  Lord  over  doomed  Jerusalem.  "  Temptations,"  he 
adds,  "  which  befell  me  by  the  lying  in  wait  of  the  Jews :" 
his  trials  sprang  from  his  countrymen,  whom  he  loved  in 
spite  of  their  rancour.  The  incidents  are  not  given  in 
the  narrative,  but  we  gather  from  other  allusions  that  the 
apostle  had  met  in  Ephesus  with  ferocious  opposition.  In 
that  city  he  had,  "after  the  manner  of  men,"  fought 
"with  beasts;"  "a  great  and  effectual  door  was  opened, 
but  there  were  many  adversaries."  This  language,  so 
strong  and  pointed,  warrants  the  idea  that  the  apostle's 
enemies  had  both  been  malignant  and  numerous,  and  that 
he  had  been  among  them  like  a  victim  braving  at  fearful 
odds  the  lions  in  the  arena — one  against  many ;  a  single 
man  in  front  of  bloody  and  unscrupulous  antagonists 
eager  to  spring  upon  him,  and  yearning  for  his  death. 


314  PAUL   AT  MILETUS. 

The  "  lying  in  wait  of  the  Jews  "  was  more  to  be  feared 
than  the  blunt  fury  of  the  guild  of  silversmiths  whose 
craft  had  been  endangered.  The  worshippers  of  Diana 
were  open  and  lawless  in  their  rage,  but  the  Jews  crouched 
and  watched  the  opportunity  offered,  stooped  to  any  arti- 
fice and  submitted  to  any  ignominy  so  as  to  gain  their 
object.  Such  conduct  well-nigh  broke  the  apostle's  heart. 
It  did  not  agitate  him  with  terror,  but  it  filled  him  with 
sorrow.  He  did  not  curse — he  wept  over  such  blindness 
and  obstinacy. 

But  the  furious  opposition  of  the  Jews  did  not  induce 
the  apostle  to  mutilate  the  gospel  which  he  preached. 
He  "kept  back  nothing  that  was  profitable,"  no  truth 
that  could  secure  their  spiritual  benefit.  If  it  was  to  be 
of  advantage  to  them  he  gave  it  prominence,  no  matter 
how  repugnant  it  might  be  to  his  opponents.  He  still 
insisted  on  the  Messiahship  of  Jesus,  and  on  his  atoning 
death  as  His  prime  work.  Nor  did  he  publish  these 
tenets  in  whispers,  or  give  dubious  expression  to  them  in 
darkened  chambers.  He  dilated  on  them,  gave  them 
ample  and  repeated  illustration,  or,  as  he  declares — "  but 
have  showed  you  publicly,  and  from  house  to  house;"  in 
the  synagogue,  in  the  school  of  Tyrannus,  and  in  the  more 
private  and  occasional  assemblies.  The  apostle  then  suc- 
cinctly states  the  invariable  theme  of  his  preaching — 
"Testifying  both  to  the  Jews,  and  also  to  the  Greeks, 
repentance  towards  God,  and  faith  towards  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ."  Kepentance  without  faith  is  but  remorse,  and 
faith  cannot  exist  without  repentance.  Faith  in  Christ 
gives  repentance  its  distinctive  character.  For  vainly 


EEPENTANCE  AND  FAITH.  315 

would  our  hearts  be  broken  unless  His  body  had  been 
broken  for  us,  and  vainly  would  our  tears  be  shed  unless 
for  us  his  blood  had  been  shed.  Paul's  preaching  ranged 
round  these  two  grand  topics  which  we  have  considered 
in  the  previous  chapter.  Such  is  the  record  of  his 
labour;  earnest,  faithful,  and  unremitting  evangelical 
labour,  watered  with  tears  and  carried  on  amidst  deadly 
hostility. 


316  PAUL  AT   MILETUS. 


fart  H. 

ANTICIPATIONS  OF  THE  FUTURE — HIS  COURAGE. 

He  then  turns  to  himself,  and  his  own  future.  He  was 
proceeding  to  Jerusalem,  ignorant  of  what  specially  awaited 
him  there,  but  bound  in  the  spirit — either  under  an  impulse 
from  the  Holy  Spirit,  or  under  a  constraining  sense  of  duty, 
but  having  no  detailed  foresight  of  what  lay  before  him. 
He  was  no  traveller  choosing  his  own  paths  for  pleasure 
or  mere  gratification,  nor  was  it  any  inferior  motive  that 
took  him  to  the  metropolis.  Still  he  was  aware  that, 
wherever  he  went,  ruthless  opposition  was  excited  to  him. 
By  no  conjecture,  by  no  reading  of  the  future  in  the  past, 
by  no  insight  into  Jewish  character  verified  by  Jewish 
practice,  but  by  special  information  from  the  Holy  Ghost, 
vouchsafed  in  every  city — in  city  by  city  as  he  visited 
them — was  he  made  aware  that  bonds  and  afflictions — 
imprisonment,  and  the  restraints  and  tortures  attendant 
upon  it — were  abiding  him  in  Jerusalem.  Such  revela- 
tions fulfilled  the  early  promise — "  I  will  show  him  how 
great  things  he  must  suffer  for  my  name's  sake."  He 
was  not  left  without  warning,  but  his  courage  sank  not. 
He  did  not  shrink  for  fear  of  bonds.  Liberty  was  dear  to 
him  as  to  every  one;  dear  to  him  as  to  every  one  who 
walks  and  wanders  from  place  to  place,  and  especially 
to  him,  as  he  moved  about  under  the  commission  of  an 
evangelist.  Nay,  though  the  bonds  were  abiding  him— 


PREDICTED  TRIALS  AT  JERUSALEM.  317 

ready  to  be  thrown  around  him,  as  if  they  yawned  to 
receive  his  limbs  into  them,  he  did  not  hesitate — "  I  am 
going"  says  he,  on  my  perilous  journey.  At  Tyre  he 
was  cautioned  not  to  proceed,  and  at  Cesarea  Agabus 
warned  him,  but  still  he  held  on  his  course;  nay,  in  a 
letter  to  the  church  at  Home,  written  a  short  period  before, 
and  with  this  journey  in  prospect,  he  asks  them  thus  to 
pray  for  him — "  that  I  may  be  delivered  from  those  that 
do  not  believe  in  Judaea." 

The  apostle  lived  in  suffering,  and  felt  its  mellowing 
influence  every  day  of  his  life.  He  knew  not  what  it 
was  to  be  exempted  from  it,  for  his  heart  was  steeped 
in  it,  while  past  memories  pressed  upon  him,  and  antici- 
pations of  trial  ever  haunted  him.  His  soul,  like  that 
of  Moses,  was  bowed  down  under  daily  cares  and  troubles, 
while  innumerable  difficulties  and  dangers  always  beset 
him.  There  were  the  Gentiles,  who  hated  him  as  a  reli- 
gious innovator,  and  a  destroyer  of  the  popular  gods; 
the  Jews,  who  cursed  him  with  bitter  ferocity  as  a 
renegade ;  and  the  Judaizers,  who  no  less  thwarted  and 
grieved  him,  for  they  maintained  their  law  in  all  its 
rigorous  claims,  and  fell  into  the  absurdity  of  putting  the 
"new  wine  into  old  bottles."  So  beset  with  foes,  the 
apostle  was  the  less  and  less  attached  to  earth,  to  which 
nothing  bound  him  but  his  love  of  the  churches  and  his 
unquenchable  ardour  to  benefit  them;  and  he  was  more 
and  more  desirous  "to  depart  and  be  with  Christ,"  for 
it  was  far  better  to  enjoy  Him  than  even  to  preach  Him. 
The  spirit  of  his  Lord  filled  him,  and  he  entered  into  "  the 
fellowship  of  His  sufferings."  Nay,  he  had  that  deep 


318  PAUL  AT   MILETUS. 

experience  of  divine  comfort  and  sympathy  which,  but  for 
his  sufferings,  he  could  not  have  enjoyed.  His  soul  was 
so  subdued  and  tender,  that  Christ's  grace  and  power  were 
not  an  occasional  pleasure  to  it,  but  formed  its  daily 
luxury — "As  the  sufferings  of  Christ  abound  in  us,  so 
our  consolation  also  aboundeth  by  Christ.7'  Service  and 
suffering  have  been  often  and  similarly  associated — not 
such  wounds  as  men  frequently  inflict  upon  themselves  by 
wit  or  rivalry,  folly  or  commercial  speculation,  but  such 
sufferings  as,  springing  out  of  the  service  done,  render  it 
acceptable,  and  are  the  libation  poured  out  upon  the 
sacrifice.  Perfection  is  reached  through  suffering — as  with 
Christ  so  with  Christ's.  He  suffered  these  things,  and 
entered  into  His  glory ;  was  made  "  perfect  through  suf- 
fering." He  "  learned  obedience  by  the  things  which  He 
suffered."  Obedience  is  easier  than  suffering;  to  endure 
is  harder  than  to  act,  for  action  draws  around  it  a  cluster 
of  motives  and  pleasures.  Patient  suffering  is  purest 
obedience ;  pang  after  pang  passing  over  the  spirit,  not 
only  without  a  murmur,  but  with  cordial  acquiescence,  and 
with  the  experience  of  His  fellow-feeling  who  was  "  a 
man  of  sorrows" — 

Trial,  when  it  weighs  severely, 
Stamps  the  Saviour's  image  clearly 

On  the  heart  of  all  his  friends : 
In  the  frame  His  hands  have  moulded 
Is  a  future  life  unfolded 

Through  the  suffering  which  He  sends. 

Suffering  curbs  our  wayward  passions, 
Childlike  tempers  in  us  fashions, 
And  our  will  to  His  subdues : 


THE  SPIRIT  OF  MARTYRDOM.  319 

Thus  His  hand,  so  soft  and  healing, 
Each  disordered  power  and  feeling 
By  a  blessed  change  renews. 

Suffering  keeps  the  thoughts  compacted, 
That  the  soul  be  not  distracted 

By  the  world's  beguiling  art. 
Tis  like  some  angelic  warder 
Ever  keeping  sacred  order 

In  the  chambers  of  the  heart. 

Suffering  tunes  the  heart's  emotion 
To  eternity's  devotion, 

And  awakes  a  fond  desire 
For  the  land  where  psalms  are  ringing, 
And  with  palms  the  martyrs  singing 

Sweetly  to  the  harpers'  quire. 

With  such  a  prospect  before  him  the  apostle  was 
undaunted — "  But  none  of  these  things  move  me,  neither 
count  I  my  life  dear  unto  myself,  so  that  I  might  finish 
my  course  with  joy,  and  the  ministry,  which  I  have 
received  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  testify  the  gospel  of  the 
grace  of  God."  Not  only  liberty,  but  life  itself  would  be 
freely  surrendered  for  the  highest  object — "I  hold  my 
life  of  no  account,  nor  is  it  so  precious  to  me  as  to  finish 
my  course  with  joy."  This  was  the  spirit  of  martyrdom, 
and  the  prophetic  words  were  verified.  The  only  precious 
thing  to  him  was  the  triumphant  conclusion  of  his  career 
— all  things  else  were  of  no  value  in  comparison.  "  Yea, 
and  if  I  be  offered,' '  he  writes  to  the  church  at  Phi- 
lippi,  "upon  the  sacrifice  and  service  of  your  faith,  I  joy 
and  rejoice  with  you  all."  The  joy  is  the  joy  of  a  racer 
when  he  touches  the  goal  and  receives  the  garland — the 
joy  that  duty  and  trial  are  past,  and  that  the  longed  for 


320  PAUL  AT   MILETUS. 

prize  has  been  won.  If  we  trace  his  career  from  Damascus 
to  the  desert  of  Arabia,  and  from  it  to  Jerusalem ;  from 
Jerusalem  to  Tarsus,  from  Tarsus  to  Antioch,  from  Antioch 
to  Cyprus,  from  Cyprus  to  Antioch  in  Pisidia,  forward  to 
Iconium,  Lystra,  and  Derbe,  and  retracing  his  steps 
through  these  towns  to  report  to  the  church  in  the  Syrian 
Antioch;  thence  up  to  Jerusalem  and  back,  and  then 
through  Syria  and  Cilicia,  Phrygia  and  Galatia,  down  to 
Troas,  and  over  to  Philippi,  Thessalonica,  Berea,  Athens, 
and  Corinth ;  from  Cenchrea  direct  by  sea  to  Ephesus,  and 
up  as  before  to  Jerusalem;  down,  as  was  his  wont,  to 
Antioch,  over  "  all  the  country  of  Galatia  and  Phrygia  in 
order"  till  he  came  to  Ephesus;  across  another  time  to 
Macedonia,  west  as  far  as  Illyricum  and  on  to  southern 
Greece ;  north  again  to  Philippi,  over  the  blue  JEgean 
once  more  to  Troas,  and  from  it  to  Miletus,  where  he  was 
now  addressing  the  assembled  elders — then  we  shall  see 
that  his  course  had  been  a  long  and  varied  one,  and  that 
he  had  not  run  in  vain,  if  we  think  not  only  of  the  miles 
he  travelled,  but  of  the  sermons  he  preached,  the  miracles 
he  wrought,  the  sufferings  he  endured,  the  epistles  he 
wrote,  and  the  churches  he  founded  or  confirmed. 

That  long  and  arduous  course,  involving  so  much  labour, 
stoning  at  Lystra,  scourging  at  Philippi,  and  hazards  of 
death  in  every  place — for  he  says,  "I  die  daily'7 — is 
identified  by  the  apostle  with  the  ministry  he  had  received 
of  the  Lord  Jesus — from  Him  when  He  appeared  to  him 
by  the  way.  He  did  not  take  "this  honour  unto  himself" 
— his  were  no  self-assumed  functions ;  but  the  commis- 
sion was  laid  upon  him  by  the  glorified  Kedeemer.  He 


PROCLAMATION  OF  THE  GOOD  NEWS.      321 

was  not  set  apart,  as  Matthias,  by  his  fellow-apostles  and 
the  church ;  nor  did  any  one  select  and  ordain  him,  as  he 
chose  and  ordained  Timothy.  Directly  from  Christ  did 
he  receive  his  ministry — "  Paul,  an  apostle  (not  of  man, 
neither  by  man,  but  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  God  the  Father, 
who  raised  Him  from  the  dead)."  "But  I  certify  you, 
brethren,  that  the  gospel  which  was  preached  of  me  is 
not  after  man.  For  I  neither  received  it  of  man,  neither 
was  I  taught  it,  but  by  the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ." 
No  one  intervened  between  him  and  the  Master — authority, 
prerogative,  and  qualification  came  at  once  from  Him. 
What  to  teach,  and  why  and  how  to  teach  it,  were  in  every 
sense  supernatural  communications. 

The  primary  duty  of  that  ministry  was  "  to  testify  the 
gospel  of  the  grace  of  God."  That  gospel  was  his  uniform 
testimony,  and  the  essence  of  that  gospel  is  the  grace  of 
God — His  rich  and  sovereign  benignity  to  sinners.  That 
grace,  unbought  and  unexpected,  is  gospel — good  news, 
tidings  which  we  could  not  anticipate,  nor  did  we  merit 
them.  God  was  under  no  obligation  to  provide  salvation, 
and  man  had  no  right  to  expect  it.  Grace  is  opposed 
to  necessity  on  His  part,  and  to  merit  on  ours.  And 
in  His  gospel  He  unfolds  to  men  His  gracious  purpose, 
which  they  could  have  learned  in  no  other  way.  Neither 
creation  nor  providence  afford  sufficient  data.  Shall  He 
punish  as  He  has  threatened?  or  shall  He,  for  His  own 
reasons,  remit  the  penalty  ?  How,  then,  if  He  remit  the 
penalty,  shall  He  maintain  His  veracity,  and  uphold  the 
honour  of  His  law?  Who  should  have  dared  to  solve 
or  even  to  propose  such  a  problem  ?  0,  it  is  purest 

x 


322  PAUL  AT  MILETUS. 

mercy  which  the  good  tidings  convey  to  us.  For  it  is 
not  a  respite  or  a  mitigation,  but  complete  deliverance 
through  grace.  It  is  not  some  boon  fitted  for  the  present, 
the  enjoyment  of  which  may  fill  up  the  time  previous  to 
the  period  of  infliction.  It  is  not  some  vindication  of 
God's  equity  to  induce  the  culprit's  unmurmuring  submis- 
sion; but  it  is  a  free,  perfect,  and  joyous  salvation — not 
from  one  section  of  the  penalty,  but  from  its  entire  sweep 
and  circuit.  Pardon,  peace,  purity,  healthful  progress  to 
perfection,  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  the  life  ever- 
lasting— do  not  these  deserve  the  name  of  good  news? 
And  he  that  felt  this  grace  in  himself,  and  pitied  the  souls 
of  men,  could  not  but  spend  himself  in  testifying  the  gos- 
pel of  the  grace  of  God.  No  wonder  that  when  his  work 
was  done,  and  he  had  nearly  completed  his  cycle,  he  could 
say  with  all  humility  and  hopefulness — "  I  am  now  ready 
to  be  offered  up,  and  the  time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand. 
I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course,  I 
have  kept  the  faith:  henceforth  there  is  laid  up  for  me 
a  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord,  the  righteous 
Judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day ;  and  not  to  me  only,  but 
unto  all  them  also  that  love  His  appearing." 

But  this  address  was  not  only  a  record  of  his  labours 
and  trials  among  them ;  it  was  not  simply  an  intimation 
of  his  departure  from  them — it  was  a  final  farewell — 
"And  now,  behold,  I  know  that  ye  all,  among  whom  I 
have  gone  preaching  the  kingdom  of  God,  shall  see  my 
face  no  more."  He  approaches  this  idea  with  reluctance, 
and  wishes  them  to  note  it,  that  his  subsequent  charges 
may  have  the  greater  solemnity.  If  they  were  hearing 


VALEDICTOEY  APPEAL.  323 

his  voice  for  the  last  time,  and  if  they  were  never  to  look 
on  him  again,  what  he  now  said  would  fix  itself  in  their 
memory  by  the  mournful  impression  which  it  would  make 
on  their  hearts.  He  appeals  to  the  tender  tie  subsisting 
between  them;  for  he  had  gone  among  them  preaching 
the  kingdom  of  God,  and  they  had  listened,  believed,  and 
been  admitted  to  that  kingdom.  The  connection  now  to 
be  severed  was  close  and  tender,  as  between  a  spiritual 
father  and  his  spiritual  family.  When  they  thought  on 
what  precious  truths  he  had  brought,  what  enterprise  he 
had  displayed,  what  intensity  of  emotion  he  had  mani- 
fested, and  what  courage  and  disinterestedness  marked 
his  unwearied  labours,  they  could  not  but  be  attached  to 
him  in  no  ordinary  degree,  and  the  termination  of  their 
intercourse  could  not  but  oppress  and  grieve  them,  and 
this  the  more  surely  that  they  were  to  see  his  face  no 
more.  Of  this  painful  fact  he  assures  them — "  I  know." 
How  he  knew  we  cannot  tell,  or  whether  he  spoke  simply 
from  present  impression.  According  to  the  chronology 
held  by  some,  the  apostle  was  liberated  after  a  first  trial 
at  Rome,  and  made  another  and  last  missionary  tour,  being 
probably  at  Philippi,  and  certainly  at  Ephesus.  In  this 
case  we  would  say  that  the  apostle  spoke  here  from  strong 
feeling,  but  from  apprehensions  which  were  not  verified. 
Yet  he  says — "I  know;"  as  if  nothing  could  be  more 
certain.  It  will  scarcely  do  to  say  that  he  might  return 
to  Ephesus,  and  yet  see  none  of  his  present  audience ;  for 
we  cannot  imagine  so  great  changes  to  have  happened  in 
so  brief  a  period,  and  we  cannot  suppose  him  to  have  been 
in  Asia  Minor  without  being  in  Ephesus  at  all.  Nor  would 


324  PAUL  AT  MILETUS. 

it  suffice  to  lay  emphasis  on  the  mere  word  "all" — that  is, 
that  he  would  never  see  all  of  them  again ;  for  that  is  so 
true  of  any  assembly,  that  the  apostle  could  not  introduce 
such  a  commonplace  with  all  this  solemnity.  The  plain 
meaning  is  that  he  understood  and  declared  the  parting  to  be 
final ;  for  he  expected  never  to  return  to  them.  He  writes, 
indeed,  to  Philippi,  when  he  was  imprisoned  at  Home,  that 
he  had  strong  hopes  of  liberation — "  I  know  that  I  shall 
abide  and  continue  with  you  all."  The  words — "I  know  " 
in  the  speech,  declaring  a  final  farewell,  are  fairly  balanced 
by  the  words — "  I  know"  in  the  epistle,  affirming  a  speedy 
return  to  the  neighbourhood.  Both  were  not  correct,  but 
both  might  be  used  under  present  impression  and  expecta- 
tions ;  for  as  to  his  personal  future,  as  he  has  already  said 
in  this  address,  he  was  not  specially  enlightened — only  he 
was  generally  and  continuously  warned  of  coming  dangers 
and  trials,  "  bonds  and  imprisonment." 


PAUL  AT  MILETUS.  325 


fart  ffi. 

HIS     CHARGE. 

Eecurring  still  to  the  past  the  apostle  adds — "  Where- 
fore I  take  you  to  record  this  day — this  very  day — that  I 
am  pure  from  the  blood  of  all  men."  Having  done  his 
duty — served  the  Master  in  the  Master's  spirit,  laboured 
with  many  tears,  not  quailing  before  Jewish  conspiracies ; 
having  'kept  back  nothing  profitable,  but  taught  them  in 
public  and  in  their  own  dwellings,  in  more  formal  address 
and  in  more  simple  and  friendly  conversations;  having 
proclaimed  to  all  classes  repentance  and  faith,  testified  the 
gospel  of  the  grace  of  God,  and  preached  the  kingdom 
of  God ;  having  done  ail  this  labour  from  the  purest  of 
motives  and  with  all  humility,  might  he  not  appeal  to 
the  elders  and  say — "I  am  pure  from  the  blood  of  all 
men?" 

Yea,  he  adds  with  conclusive  emphasis,  gathering  up 
into  one  brief  sentence  what  had  preceded — "  For  I  have 
not  shunned  to  declare  unto  you  all  the  counsel  of  God." 
He  had  not  shrunk  from  a  full  and  faithful  announcement 
of  the  entire  will  of  God.  It  is  implied  that  portions 
of  that  will  might  tempt  a  man  to  shrink  from  declar- 
ing them — those  portions  which  are  repugnant  to  fallen 
nature,  which  curb  our  pride,  humble  our  intellect,  and 
are  a  stumbling-block  to  one  class  of  minds,  and  foolish- 
ness to  another.  But  he  had  not  desisted  from  speaking 


326  PAUL  AT  MILETUS. 

them,  and  lie  had  not  modified  them  from  fear  of  giving 
offence.  He  had  told  them  how  guilty  and  undeserving 
they  were,  and  how  utterly  unable  to  save  themselves ; 
had  presented  salvation  to  them  in  a  plain  story  of 
one  who  had  been  hanged  on  a  tree  in  Jerusalem;  had 
dwelt  on  the  necessity  of  an  entire  change  of  life,  and 
of  the  immediate  and  complete  abandonment  of  such  sins 
as  were  common  in  Ephesus,  so  common  as  to  bring  no 
scandal  with  them ;  and  had  shown  them  what  a  marked 
and  visible  line  of  demarcation  should  exist  between 
them  and  the  world  round  about  them.  All  the  counsel 
of  God — every  atom  and  element  of  it,  what  was  cardinal 
and  what  was  subordinate,  what  was  primary  and  what 
was  relational,  what  was  doctrinal  and  what  was  experi- 
mental, what  belonged  to  ecclesiastical  and  what  to  common 
life,  the  proof  that  guarded  and  the  inference  that  might 
be  deduced,  the  sphere  of  faith  and  that  of  hope  and  of 
love — all  had  been  expounded  by  him  who  had  "  rightly 
divided  the  word  of  truth."  0  to  be  able,  amidst  all 
shortcomings,  to  adopt  the  apostle's  language,  or  to  be 
able  at  least  to  avow  that  we  have  aimed,  in  dependence 
on  divine  grace,  to  declare  the  whole  counsel  of  God,  and 
that  we  cannot  charge  ourselves  with  wilful  treachery  to 
Him  whom  we  serve.  What  need  have  we  to  offer  the 
constant  supplication  in  all  fervour  and  humility  that  He 
would  fill  us  with  the  grace  of  fidelity,  and  enable  us  not 
only  to  labour,  but  to  watch  for  souls ;  that  He  would 
endow  us  with  ingenuity  in  devising  times  and  means 
for  the  successful  application  of  the  truth ;  and  give  us  a 
living  resemblance  to  Him  who  went  about  doing  good,  in 


COUNSELS.  327 

season  and  out  of  season,  praying  by  night  and  labouring 
by  day,  His  heart  being  set  on  His  Father's  glory  and 
the  world's  deliverance  from  sin  and  death. 

From  himself  the  apostle  turns  to  the  elders :  u  Take 
heed,  therefore" — since  the  supervision  henceforth  devolves 
solely  on  you,  and  since  such  is  the  example  of  vigilance, 
anxiety,  and  love  I  have  set  before  you,  "  take  heed  unto 
yourselves,  and  to  all  the  flock  over  the  which  the  Holy 
Ghost  hath  made  you  overseers,  to  feed  the  church  of 
God."  Themselves  were  the  first  object  of  thought.  You 
are  sinners  in  need  of  the  same  salvation,  and  unless  you 
have  accepted  that  salvation  yourselves,  you  are  not  fitted 
to  save  others — your  own  souls  first,  the  souls  of  others 
afterwards.  To  the  doctrine  which  they  taught  they  were 
to  take  heed,  lest  error  should  mingle  with  their  instruc- 
tions. They  were  to  impart  the  truth  pure  and  simple,  not 
corrupted  by  the  "  rudiments  of  the  world  "  and  "traditions 
of  men,"  or  tinctured  with  "  philosophy  and  vain  deceit." 
Nor  were  they  to  be  less  careful  of  their  example,  of  their 
own  growth  in  the  spiritual  life.  The  apostle  has  himself 
stated  the  melancholy  issue  which  he  strove  by  self-com- 
mand to  avoid — "Lest  that  by  any  means,  having  preached 
the  gospel  to  others,  I  myself  should  be  a  castaway."  He 
warns  Timothy,  when  placed  over  this  Ephesian  church, 
thus — "  Take  heed  unto  thyself  and  unto  the  doctrine." 
Their  life  should  be  in  such  harmony  with  their  labour  as 
to  be  a  commentary  upon  it :  for  example  gives  power  to 
precept — one  reason,  among  others,  why  overseers  of  the 
flock  belong  to  the  flock,  and  are  "men  of  like  passions"  with 
those  whom  they  teach  and  govern.  As  under  the  former 


328  PAUL  AT   MILETUS. 

economy  the  priesthood  was  of  human  origin,  that  those 
vested  with  it  might  "have  compassion  on  the  ignorant,  and 
on  them  that  are  out  of  the  way,"  so,  under  the  second  dis- 
pensation, there  is  a  peculiar  propriety  in  appointing  men 
to  the  task  of  interpreting  the  books  of  the  New  Testament. 
Might  not  such  a  trust  have  been  reposed  in  angels,  those 
high  and  spotless  intelligences  who  are  not  involved  in  the 
common  apostacy  of  our  species,  and  whose  rank  would 
command  respect  and  attention  ?  Had  such  glorious  beings 
been  commissioned  to  descend  on  wings  of  love  from  their 
aerial  abodes  to  our  forlorn  habitation,  the  world  might 
indeed  have  been  awed  by  their  visits,  and  these  messengers 
of  grace  might  have  commanded  impression  over  a  cowering 
assemblage ;  yet,  while  they  preached  with  unimpassioned 
argument  and  appeal,  and,  from  the  stores  of  their  own 
celestial  eloquence,  urged  reason  after  reason  on  man  to 
embrace  the  Saviour;  or  while  they  narrated  how  they 
watched  the  craddle  of  the  infant  Jesus,  ministered  to  Him 
in  the  wilderness,  opened  the  portals  of  His  grave,  and 
formed  the  escort  of  His  ascension ;  or  while  they  spoke  of 
the  evils  of  sin,  and  referred  to  their  fellows  whose  rebellion 
had  cast  them  out  of  heaven,  and  enlarged  on  that  sove- 
reign affection  which  had  selected  men  as  the  objects  of 
restoring  mercy — while  such  might  have  been  the  themes 
of  angelic  address,  so  interesting  in  themselves  and  in  the 
vehicle  of  their  communication,  still  there  would  be  a 
repulsion  in  the  visage  of  these  white-robed  ambassadors — 
the  radiancy  of  their  countenance  would  prohibit  a  free 
access  to  them — their  words  might  strike,  but  not  affect, 
because  the  eloquence  that  springs  from  experience  is 


VIGILANCE.  329 

wanting — the  heart  of  man  would  feel  an  utter  destitution 
of  that  assurance  of  succour  and  sympathy  which  com- 
munity of  nature  alone  can  inspire,  and  which,  arising 
from  a  feeling  of  common  misery  and  common  salvation, 
passes  from  heart  to  heart  with  electrical  suddenness  and 
power.  Teachers  of  Christianity  propose  to  others  that 
remedy  which  they  have  embraced  themselves.  "  Restore 
unto  me  the  joy  of  thy  salvation;  and  uphold  me  with 
thy  free  Spirit :  then  will  I  teach  transgressors  thy  ways ; 
and  sinners  shall  be  converted  unto  thee."  There  is  an 
appropriate  efficacy  in  the  thought  that  he  who  invites  has 
himself  been  welcomed — that  he  who  reasons  has  been 
induced  by  the  force  of  his  own  arguments — that  he  who 
warns  has  known,  but  escaped  the  dangers  against  which 
he  instructs — that  he  who  encourages  has  felt  the  joys  he 
proposes,  or  the  perplexities  he  attempts  to  unravel.  He 
believes — therefore  he  speaks ;  his  audience  hear,  and  are 
inclined  to  believe.  What  in  other  teachers  is  enthusiasm, 
is  in  him  but  sobriety.  "  Whether  we  be  beside  ourselves, 
it  is  to  God ;  or  whether  we  be  sober,  it  is  for  your  cause." 
"  Now  we  live,  if  ye  stand  fast  in  the  Lord." 

Then  they  were  to  "  take  heed  to  all  the  flock  over  the 
which  " — literally  in  which — the  Holy  Ghost  had  made 
them  overseers.  The  "  flock  "  is  a  term  which  naturally 
originated  in  a  pastoral  country,  and  is  a  favourite  with  the 
Hebrew  prophets.  They  pictured  the  flock  lying  down  in 
"green  pastures,"  or  led  to  the  "still  waters;"  or  exposed  to 
wild  beasts,  but  guarded  by  the  sling  and  staff;  or  torn  and 
scattered  "  in  the  cloudy  and  dark  day,"  becoming  "  meat 
to  all  the  beasts  of  the  field ;"  or  wandering  far  away  into 


0*  THIS 


330  PAUL  AT   MILETUS. 

the  arid  desert,  and  with  difficulty  brought  back  again ;  or 
safely  reposing  in  the  fold  "  on  the  high  mountains,"  under 
the  charge  of  a  shepherd,  who  must  defend  them  against 
wolf  and  bear,  while  he  seeks  the  lost,  and  binds  up  the 
broken.  Or  if  he  be  not  thus  tender  and  vigilant,  he  brings 
upon  him  the  denunciation,  "Woe  to  the  shepherds  that  do 
feed  themselves ;  should  not  the  shepherds  feed  the  flock?" 
The  flock  had  indeed  once  "  gone  astray,"  but  the  divine 
Shepherd  went  out  after  them  and  found  them ;  opened  up  a 
path  of  return,  and  carried  them  back  to  the  fold  where  they 
are  fed  and  tended — "  the  flock  that  was  given  Him,  the 
beautiful  flock."  He  is  indeed  the  true  and  good  Shepherd, 
who  calleth  "His  own  sheep  by  name,  and  they  follow 
Him,"  and  "  go  in  and  out  and  find  pasture ;"  who  does  not 
desert  them  when  they  are  in  danger,  and  flee  like  an  hire- 
ling; who  knows  His  sheep,  and  is  known  of  them,  and  has 
given  His  life  for  them.  This  flock,  so  dear  to  Christ  who 
died  for  them,  and  who  feeds  and  rules  them  as  the  "  chief 
Shepherd,"  had  been  committed  to  the  charge  of  the 
Ephesian  elders  as  under-shepherds  by  the  Spirit;  and 
such  a  charge,  so  divinely  given,  they  were  on  no  account 
to  neglect.  These  elders  were  bishops  or  overseers  by 
the  highest  consecration — the  unction  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
They  were  not  to  assume  any  despotic  authority  over  the 
flock,  for  they  were  still  in  it  themselves,  still  a  portion  of 
it.  And  they  were  to  take  heed  to  all  the  flock — to  every 
member  of  it,  whatever  his  position  or  calling.  They  were 
to  "  warn  them  that  are  unruly,  comfort  the  feeble-minded, 
support  the  weak,  be  patient  toward  all  men,"  "  speaking 
the  things  which  become  sound  doctrine ; "  urging  "  that 


CARE  OF  THE  FLOCK.  331 

the  aged  men  be  sober,  grave,  temperate,  sonnd  in  faith,  in 
charity,  in  patience.  The  aged  women  likewise,  that  they 
be  in  behaviour  as  becometh  holiness,  not  false  accusers, 
not  given  to  much  wine,  teachers  of  good  things ;  that  they 
may  teach  the  young  women  to  be  sober,  to  love  their 
husbands,  to  love  their  children,  to  be  discreet,  chaste, 
keepers  at  home,  good,  obedient  to  their  own  husbands, 
that  the  word  of  God  be  not  blasphemed.  Young  men 
likewise  exhort  to  be  sober-minded." 

The  inspection  which  they  were  thus  to  practise  must 
be  loving  and  watchful,  as  the  duty  demanded,  and  after 
the  example  of  Christ,  the  "  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep." 
Their  office  was  no  sinecure ;  it  needed  every  gift  which 
nature  could  confer,  and  every  grace  which  the  Spirit  can 
furnish.  To  "watch  for  souls" — how  terrible  the  possi- 
bility that  remissness  may  be  laid  to  the  pastor's  charge,  if 
by  his  errors,  his  indifference,  or  his  defective  example, 
the  souls  of  any  of  the  flock  be  thereby  endangered.  And 
when  we  consider  what  the  perils  are  which  threaten  the 
flock,  how  frail  our  nature  is,  and  how  hardly  beset  with 
temptations ;  how  the  duties  of  the  world  are  apt  to  encroach 
upon  it,  and  its  pleasures  to  seduce  it;  how  the  idea  of 
eternity  is  so  apt  to  fade  away  under  the  pressure  of  time 
and  its  ordinary  business  j  how  one  step  in  a  wrong  direc- 
tion may  morally  necessitate  a  widening  deflection,  which 
may  end  in  a  final  apostacy — when  we  consider  these 
jeopardies  we  may  know  of  what  moment  it  is  to  "  take 
heed  to  all  the  flock."  A  word  spoken  in  season  may 
prevent  incalculable  evils — a  word  to  the  man  of  joyous 
nature,  before  he  learn  to  love  the  social  bowl ;  to  the  man 


332  PAUL  AT  MILETUS. 

of  more  sordid  inclination,  before  he  come  to  idolize  his 
gold;  to  the  man  of  intellectual  tendency,  before  he  be 
seduced  away  from  the  simplicity  of  the  gospel ;  to  the 
maiden  who  is  fond  of  dress  and  admiration;  or  to  the 
wife,  that  she  may  not  care  too  much  "  for  the  things  of 
the  world,  how  she  may  please  her  husband;"  to  the 
afflicted  or  tried,  that  they  make  full  proof  of  Christ's 
sympathy ;  and  to  the  dying,  that  they  may  bear  testimony 
to  the  power  and  grace  of  Him  who  has  abolished  death : 
giving  "  a  portion  to  seven  and  also  to  eight,"  yea,  giving 
them  "  their  portion  of  meat  in  due  season."  As  the  Holy 
Ghost  made  them  overseers,  He  would  qualify  them  for 
this  supervision,  but  He  would  also  take  account  of  their 
stewardship ;  and  woe  to  them  if  they  were  found  guilty 
of  breach  of  trust. 

What  they  were  to  take  heed  to  do  especially,  was  "  To 
feed  the  church  of  God" — to  do  the  work  of  shepherds  to 
it,  to  rule  and  protect  it,  as  well  as  to  lead  it  to  "  pastures 
fat  and  good."  Every  element  of  their  office  they  were  to 
discharge — to  maintain  "  the  due  order,"  and  to  impart 
spiritual  instruction,  being  pastors  according  to  God's  heart 
to  "  feed  with  knowledge  and  understanding."  The  church 
has  food  provided  for  it  by  the  primary  Shepherd — the 
truth  concerning  Himself,  His  character  and  work;  the 
truth  Himself  announced  when  He  said — "  I  am  the  good 
Shepherd ;  the  good  Shepherd  giveth  his  life  for  the  sheep." 
For  evangelical  truth  satisfies  every  desire  and  longing  of 
the  heart ;  comes  home  to  all  its  fears  and  allays  them ;  to 
all  its  yearnings  and  fills  them;  and  to  all  its  expecta- 
tions, and  so  supports  them  that  they  can  never  be  too 


NUTRIMENT.  333 

ardent,  nor  yet  promise  too  much :  for  the  pledges  which 
"in  Jesus  Christ  are  yea,  and  in  Him  amen,"  shall  all 
be  realized  in  God's  good  time  and  method.  Christ  him- 
self is  the  nutriment  of  the  flock,  as  they  know  Him, 
trust  Him,  love  Him,  and  obey  Him ;  Christ  everywhere  ; 
Christ  as  source  of  salvation  and  peace ;  Christ  as  motive 
to  duty  and  holiness ;  Christ  as  theme  of  praise  and  object 
of  imitation ;  Christ  as  basis  of  hope  and  centre  of  fervid 
affection  ;  Christ  in  teaching  as  prominently  as  He  is  in 
scripture ;  Christ  in  all  the  ordinances  as  pervadingly  as 
He  is  in  the  scheme  of  redemption.  And  the  elders  were 
also  to  prevent  disorders;  to  apply  discipline;  checking 
the  presumptuous  and  stimulating  the  sluggish ;  adminis- 
tering Christ's  law  with  perfect  impartiality  and  in  His 
spirit ;  and  forward  ever  to  "  reprove,  rebuke,  exhort  with 
all  long-suffering  and  doctrine ;"  "  able,  by  sound  doctrine, 
both  to  exhort  and  convince  the  gainsayer:"  "in  meek- 
ness instructing  those  that  oppose  themselves;  if  God 
peradventure  will  give  them  repentance  to  the  acknow- 
ledging of  the  truth ;  and  that  they  may  recover  themselves 
out  of  the  snare  of  the  devil,  who  are  taken  captive  by  him 
at  his  will."  Surely  such  a  function  so  set  before  them 
must  concentrate  all  their  energies  upon  it,  that  by  divine 
strength  they  might  be  able  to  discharge  it.  It  was  to  be 
their  one  study,  and  they  were  to  be  always  in  it ;  giving 
themselves  wholly  to  it ;  realizing  what  he  afterwards  said 
to  one  in  spiritual  office  in  the  same  church — "  Meditate 
upon  these  things ;  give  thyself  wholly  to  them,  that  thy 
profiting  may  appear  to  all.  Continue  in  them:  for  in 
doing  this  thou  shalt  both  save  thyself,  and  them  that 


334  PAUL  AT   MILETUS. 

hear  thee."     The  end  presented  was  a  noble  one,  and  ever 
to  be  kept  in  view : — 

"  An  ignorance  of  means  may  minister 
To  greatness,  but  an  ignorance  of  aims 
Makes  it  impossible  to  be  great  at  all. 
I  tell  you  rather,  that  whoever  may 
Discover  true  ends  here,  shall  grow  pure  enough 
To  love  them,  brave  enough  to  strive  for  them, 
And  strong  to  reach  them,  though  the  road  be  rough." 

The  apostle  adds  the  remarkable  clause — "  which  He 
has  purchased  with  His  own  blood."  The  reading  of  the 
previous  clause  is  doubtful,  some  manuscripts  having  "  the 
church  of  God,"  and  others  "the  church  of  the  Lord," 
and  there  are  also  other  variations.  On  the  one  hand,  the 
"  church  of  the  Lord  "  is  an  uncommon  phrase,  but  not 
less  uncommon  is  the  idea  of  the  blood  of  God.  We  can 
easily  conceive  reasons  why  "  God  "  should  be  altered  to 
"  Lord,"  the  expression  of  the  last  clause  being  so  peculiar ; 
but  we  cannot  also  understand  why  a  copyist  should  have 
altered  Lord  to  God — the  usual  idiom,  "  church  of  God " 
being  a  favourite  phrase,  and  used  by  Paul  no  less  than 
ten  times  in  his  epistles.  The  meaning  is  not  materially 
different,  for  "  the  Lord,  He  is  God,"  and  the  divinity  of 
Jesus  does  not  depend  upon  a  disputed  text.  It  pervades 
the  New  Testament,  and  underlies  the  whole  scheme  of 
redemption.  He  has  acquired  that  church  for  Himself, 
made  it  in  His  own  possession.  Therefore  it  is  called  the 
"purchased  possession,"  the  "peculiar  people" — "pecu- 
liar" not  meaning  singular,  but,  according  to  its  Latin 
signification,  denoting  what  is  one's  own  by  a  special 
right.  He  has  made  the  church  His  own,  by  shedding 


THE  GREAT  RANSOM.  335 

His  own  blood  for  its !  ransom.  What  a  price !  His  own 
blood ;  nothing  less;  and  nothing  else ! — implying  grace, 
condescension,  incarnation,  obedience,  suffering,  and  death. 
Jehovah  says  to  the  ancient  church — "  I  gave  Egypt  for 
thy  ransom ;  Ethiopia  and  Sheba  for  thee,"  but  the  appeal 
to  the  church  of  the  New  Testament  is — "  Ye  know  that 
ye  were  not  redeemed  with  corruptible  things,  as  silver 
and  gold,  from  your  vain  conversation  received  by  tradition 
from  your  fathers ;  but  with  the  precious  blood  of  Christ, 
as  of  a  lamb  without  blemish  and  without  spot " — 

"  The  ransom  was  paid  down ;  the  fund  of  heaven, 
Heaven's  inexhaustible,  exhausted  fund, 
Amazing,  and  amazed,  poured  forth  the  price, 
All  price  beyond :  though  curious  to  compute, 
Archangels  fail'd  to  cast  the  mighty  sum : 
Its  value  vast,  ungrasp'd  by  minds  create, 
For  ever  hides  and  glows  in  the  Supreme." 

The  church  is  therefore  His  by  the  firmest  of  all  bonds, 
for  He  has  bought  it,  and  with  a  price  beyond  all  value. 
He  has  also  redeemed  it — put  forth  His  gracious  power 
in  actually  securing  His  purchase ;  nay,  He  has  taken 
incipient  possession  of  it  by  His  own  Spirit,  sent  down 
into  it  in  His  name,  and  as  His  representative. 

All  this  counsel  was  the  more  needful,  because  of  coming 
perils — "  For  I  know  this,  that  after  my  departing  shall 
grievous  wolves  enter  in  among  you,  not  sparing  the  flock." 
I  know  this — giving  special  emphasis  to  what  he  is  about 
to  state,  as  something  additional  to  what  he  has  stated. 
"After  my  departing"  may  be  either,  after  my  leaving  you, 
or  absolutely,  after  my  death;  and  "grievous  wolves" 


336  PAUL  AT   MILETUS. 

signify  ferocious  and  unsparing  ones.  The  "  wolves,"  for 
they  devour  the  flock,  are  in  contrast  to  the  tender  and 
faithful  "overseers."  This  havoc  may  be  accomplished 
either  by  the  teaching  of  error,  or  the  introduction  of 
immoral  practices  under  guise  of  higher  Christian  freedom ; 
"  turning  the  grace  of  God  into  lasciviousness."  In  the 
first  instance,  those  wolves  come  from  without — they  were 
to  enter  in  among  you — itinerant  errorists  making  mer- 
chandise of  souls.  But  not  only  from  without  them,  from 
within  them  too  should  spiritual  foes  spring  up.  "Also 
of  your  own  selves  shall  men  arise,  speaking  perverse 
things,  to  draw  away  disciples  after  them."  These  men, 
in  their  very  bosom,  not  precisely  among  the  presbyters 
before  him,  were  to  start  up,  speaking  perverse  things — 
things  not  in  accordance  with  truth,  or  pernicious  distor- 
tions of  truth.  Their  design  was  to  draw  away  disciples 
after  them,  and  sad  to  tell,  in  such  an  attempt  they  would 
succeed.  In  an  age  of  inquiry  and  religious  excitement, 
such  forms  of  error  are  always  sure  to  appear,  and  they  did 
appear  in  that  century.  There  is  a  restlessness  in  many 
minds,  an  eager  and  morbid  desire  for  novelty — something 
more  than  has  been  taught,  or  something  different  from  it, 
or  some  modification  of  it  which  errs  either  from  excess 
or  defect.  The  Anabaptists  were  such  an  off-shoot  from 
the  Reformation;  the  fifth  monarchy  men  sprang  out  of 
English  puritanism ;  and  revivals  in  some  places  become 
at  length  spasmodic  caricatures.  God  speed  the  time 
when  men  will  take  truth  as  He  has  given  it ;  simply  and 
lovingly  take  it,  without  exercising  their  own  ingenuity 
upon  it,  either  cutting  the  gem  to  set  it,  or  placing  it  in 


FULFILMENT  OF  PROPHETIC  WARNINGS.  337 

some  capsule  which  themselves  have  invented  to  increase 
its  lustre. 

The  apostle's  prophecy  came  to  pass.  Cerinthus,  sup- 
posed to  be  of  Alexandria,  travelled  to  Ephesus,  and 
promulgated  his  heresies  in  the  face  of  the  beloved 
disciple.  Others  may  have  followed  him,  and  disseminated 
the  "oppositions  of  science  falsely  so  called."  Timothy, 
when  superintending  the  church  of  Ephesus,  is  warned 
of  certain  false  teachers  inculcating  asceticism — "  Speak- 
ing lies  in  hypocrisy;  having  their  conscience  seared 
with  a  hot  iron;  forbidding  to  marry,  and  commanding 
to  abstain  from  meats,  which  God  hath  created  to  be 
received  with  thanksgiving  of  them  which  believe  and 
know  the  truth."  The  same  evangelist  is  also  warned 
thus — "  This  charge  I  commit  unto  thee,  son  Timothy, 
according  to  the  prophecies  which  went  before  on  thee, 
that  thou  by  them  mightest  war  a  good  warfare  :  holding 
faith  and  a  good  conscience ;  which,  some  having  put 
away,  concerning  faith  have  made  shipwreck  :  of  whom  is 
Hymeneus  and  Alexander,  whom  I  have  delivered  unto 
Satan,  that  they  may  learn  not  to  blaspheme,"  These 
heretics,  "  men  of  corrupt  mind,  and  reprobate  concerning 
the  truth,"  confounded  the  resurrection  with  regeneration, 
holding  that  as  matter  was  essentially  sinful,  the  rising  of 
the  body  was  impossible,  and  that  the  resurrection  was 
simply  the  resuscitation  of  the  soul  from  spiritual  death  to 
spiritual  life.  Their  philosophy  damaged  their  theology 
— a  thing  not  uncommon  in  every  age  of  the  church.  It 
is,  however,  to  be  borne  in  mind,  that  these  warnings 
seem  to  have  accomplished  their  purpose,  for  the  Ephesian 

Y 


338  PAUL  AT  MILETUS. 

church  is  thus  praised  in  the  apocalyptic  letter — "Thou 
hast  tried  them  which  say  they  are  apostles  and  are  not, 
and  hast  found  them  liars." 

If,  then,  such  be  the  case — if  these  dangers  are  so  immi- 
nent ;  if  virulent  foes  are  either  plausibly  to  intrude  them- 
selves among  you,  or  some  of  yourselves  are  to  swerve  from 
the  truth,  and  introduce  seductive  and  pernicious  novelties ; 
if  the  flock  be  really  in  such  jeopardy — there  is  all  the 
more  reason  why  unwonted  vigilance  should  characterize 
the  pastors :  "Therefore  watch,  and  remember,  that,  by  the 
space  of  three  years,  I  ceased  not  to  warn  every  one  night 
and  day  with  tears."  They  were  to  watch — to  exercise  a 
close  and  earnest  superintendence — at  no  time  to  be  remiss 
— and  this  after  the  apostle's  example.  They  were  to 
remember  how  he  had  acted  when  he  was  among  them, 
during  those  three  years — a  round  number  employed  for  a 
somewhat  shorter  period.  When  he  was  among  them,  he 
warned  them — warned  every  one  of  them ;  spoke  in  solemn 
words  to  each  of  them,  of  his  condition  and  destiny ;  of 
the  truth,  and  of  the  tenacity  with  which  he  ought  to  hold 
it ;  of  the  danger  of  error,  and  of  the  fascinating  appearance 
which  it  so  often  presents.  This  warning  was  continual — 
"  day  and  night  " — on  every  available  opportunity ;  at 
every  period  of  contact  and  fellowship  with  them.  Nay, 
he  ceased  not  to  warn  them — never  thought  that  they  had 
been  sufficiently  guarded ;  never  felt  as  if  another  warning 
would  be  superfluous,  or  as  if  he  had  said  all  that  could  or 
need  be  said.  Another  warning  and  yet  another,  such 
were  his  zeal  and  anxiety ;  for  he  warned  them  with  tears. 
Those  tears  were  not  for  his  unbelieving  countrymen,  as 


THE  APOSTLE'S  TEARS.  339 

already  referred  to  ;  they  were  for  his  converts.  Ah  !  those 
tears  show  us  the  apostle's  heart.  He  was  not  cold  and 
pure  intellect — an  icicle  radiating  the  light  of  a  winter's 
sun.  His  great  mind  was  not  lifted  above  emotion  to  a 
high  and  gelid  empyrean.  His  soul  was  as  profoundly 
sensitive  as  that  of  a  child  under  its  first  trials.  Nor  had 
his  numerous  cares  and  disappointments  hardened  him 
into  apathy.  He  felt  what  a  soul  is  in  value,  and  what 
heaven  and  hell  are  in  destiny  5  how  brief  man's  period  is 
here,  and  what  a  hold  sin  and  error  have  upon  him ;  and 
he  burst  into  tears  as  he  prayed  men  "  in  Christ's  stead  " 
to  be  reconciled  unto  God.  The  touching  nature  of 
Christ's  promises  to  sinners  filled  his  eye  as  he  repeated 
them.  Tears  fell  at  the  memory  of  Christ's  tears,  and  at 
the  thought  of  man's  hard  and  impenetrable  heart.  He 
wept  as  he  imagined  the  possibility  of  any  of  them 
descending  to  the  place  of  weeping  and  wailing  and 
gnashing  of  teeth.  His  moist  eyes  and  agitated  bosom  are 
now  remembered  by  him  as  the  signs  of  his  earnestness, 
and  he  does  not  stir  them  to  admiration  by  a  reference  to 
his  miracles,  but  he  moves  them  to  sympathy  by  an  appeal 
to  his  tears — tears  which  fell  upon  his  roughened  hands 
as  he  bent  over  his  daily  labour,  and  furrowed  his  cheeks 
as  he  warned  them  so  incessantly  of  coming  death  and  an 
awful  eternity. 


340  PAUL  AT   MILETUS. 


fart  IF. 

THE     FAREWELL. 

The  apostle  has  been  drawing  to  a  conclusion  more  than 
once,  but  he  cannot.  He  has  still  something  more  to  say, 
and  he  prolongs  the  address  in  the  fulness  of  his  heart. 
He  is  loath  to  say  farewell — shrinks  from  uttering  his  last 
words  to  them ;  he  lingers  with  them,  and  has  yet  some 
additional  counsel  or  appeal  to  present  to  them.  But  he 
must  leave  them,  and  with  no  hope  of  another  meeting. 
This  was  their  last  interview ;  they  were  to  see  his  face  no 
more.  But  they  were  not  to  be  left  comfortless ;  a  higher 
power  than  his  would  protect  and  bless  them.  "  And  now, 
brethren,  I  commend  you  to  God,  and  to  the  word  of  His 
grace,  which  is  able  to  build  you  up,  and  to  give  you  an 
inheritance  among  all  them  which  are  sanctified."  He 
committed  them  to  the  highest  guardianship — to  God 
Himself  5  handed  them  over  to  Him  of  infinite  power  and 
love — to  God,  and  to  the  word  of  His  grace — for  by  it  He 
works  out  His  purposes.  His  word  is  in  itself  the  embodi- 
ment of  His  grace,  and  also  the  means  by  which  His  grace 
operates.  Here  it  means  that  gospel  which  Paul  had  pro- 
claimed— for  as  yet  there  was  no  written  New  Testament. 
By  their  believing  reception  and  continued  grasp  of  the 
doctrine  of  grace,  would  they  be  kept  from  danger  and 
woe.  They  who  forsake  God's  truth  cast  themselves  out 
of  God's  keeping.  He  keeps  them  through  their  confidence 


THE  SPIRITUAL   UPBUILDING.  341 

in  Him,  by  deepening  it ;  by  opening  up  to  them  the  mean- 
ing of  His  promises,  and  enabling  them  to  take  fuller 
draughts  of  consolation  from  them  ;  by  showing  them  the 
path  of  duty,  and  guiding  and  upholding  them  in  it ;  by 
inducing  them  to  rely  upon  His  grace,  and  evermore  to 
cling  to  that  word  which  reveals  and  contains  it.  He  does 
not  throw  any  mystic  shield  around  them,  and  the  stars 
in  their  courses  fight  not  for  them.  But  they  draw  near  to 
God,  and  they  keep  near  Him ;  His  grace  contained  in  His 
word  cheers  and  supports  them.  What  they  want  He  has 
promised,  and  He  will  give  it,  when  they  ask  it.  "  I  will 
never  leave  thee,"  is  His  pledge.  "  I  will  instruct  thee," 
is  His  promise. 

The  Ephesian  elders  were  thus  left  in  God's  hands,  and 
they  could  not  be  left  in  better  hands  than  His ;  for  He 
is  able  to  build  them  up.  It  is  probable  that  it  is  to  God, 
and  not  to  the  "  word  of  His  grace,"  that  this  clause  refers. 
Edification  is  God's  work.  The  figure  is  common  in  the 
apostle's  style,  and  is  found  in  fuller  reference  in  his  letter 
to  the  Ephesian  church.  There  he  speaks  of  the  holy 
edifice  resting  on  "the  chief  corner-stone,"  and  "fitly  framed 
together;"  preserving  its  symmetry  as  it  rises  in  altitude, 
— a  spiritual  temple  in  which  believers  are  inbuilt  as  living 
stones;  its  object  being  "an  habitation  of  God  through 
the  Spirit."  But  the  living  stones  forming  the  great 
temple  or  church  universal,  are  singly  and  each  also  a 
temple;  each  a  shrine  of  the  Holy  Ghost  reared  up  by 
God's  truth  and  love,  compactly  built  together  in  its  various 
graces — a  scene  of  divine  residence  and  worship.  For 
God  not  only  saves,  but  He  perpetuates  the  safety.  He 


342  PAUL  AT  MILETUS. 

not  only  converts,  but  He  also  confirms.  Not  only  does 
He  put  believers  on  the  path,  but  He  preserves  them  in 
it — "  Shall  I  bring  to  the  birth,  and  not  cause  to  bring 
forth?  saith  the  Lord."  Not  only  are  they  begotten  of 
Him,  but  the  life  is  fostered  and  strengthened.  Not  only 
does  He  infuse  the  hope  of  the  inheritance,  but  He 
cherishes  it,  and  deepens  it,  and  brings  it  to  realization. 
Progress  is  the  law  of  the  spiritual  life — God  is  "  able  to 
build  you  up."  Will  you  doubt  His  ability  to  build  you 
up,  when  you  compare  autumn  with  spring,  the  crop  with 
the  seed,  the  oak  with  the  acorn,  the  man  with  the  babe, 
the  hill  with  the  rocks  of  which  it  is  made  up,  this  goodly 
world  with  "the  highest  part  of  the  dust,"  or  original 
elements  of  which  it  is  composed,  or  Israel  in  the  days  of 
Solomon  with  the  miserable  horde  of  fugitives  escaping  by 
night  from  Egypt? 

But  not  only  have  believers  spiritual  progress  here,  they 
are  assured  of  glory  hereafter.  They  get  an  inheritance 
— a  possession,  as  Canaan  had  been  to  the  Jews ;  among 
the  sanctified — those  made  meet  for  the  inheritance;  and 
among  all  of  them — as  if  not  a  few  should  be  so  changed 
and  endowed.  An  inheritance  is  something  one  can  call 
his  own  and  can  enjoy  as  his  own — not  something  which 
is  his  by  fiction  or  unauthorized  tenure.  And  so  the 
happiness  of  heaven  is  truly  an  inheritance.  It  is  ours 
by  God's  gift,  and  its  happiness  is  felt  in  our  perfected 
natures.  It  is  not  around  us,  but  it  is  within  us.  It  is  not 
a  gift  we  may  only  lay  our  hands  on,  but  it  is  in  our  hearts 
and  there  by  a  charter  which  can  never  be  cancelled, 
and  by  a  sanctifying  power  which  seals  the  perfection 


THE  HEAVENLY  INHERITANCE.  343 

which  it  has  developed.  Any  other  inheritance  without 
us  may  fail ;  the  ten  talents  are  taken  from  him  who  has 
not  improved  them.  But  that  which  is  sanctified  is  the 
soul — that  which  constitutes  his  consciousness  or  himself, 
and  therefore  it  is  his  inheritance.  And  God  bestows  it — 
it  is  His  prerogative  "  to  give"  it,  for  He  has  provided  it. 
God  bestows  it — it  is  not  won  from  Him  as  a  reward,  or 
earned  from  Him  as  a  prize.  He  gives  it  in  His  grace, 
and  in  the  word  of  that  grace  He  has  described  its  nature, 
shown  how  it  may  be  obtained,  and  what  preparation  is 
indispensable  for  it. 


344  PAUL  AT  MILETUS. 


|art  v. 

CONCLUDING  APPEAL   TO   THE   PAST — HIS   DISINTERESTEDNESS. 

The  apostle  again  comes  back  to  himself.  He  has  spoken 
of  his  labours  and  watchfulness,  his  trials  and  tears,  what 
he  had  suffered  and  what  he  had  still  to  endure,  and  now  he 
refers  to  the  disinterestedness  of  his  toils.  No  mercenary 
motive  urged  him,  he  was  far  above  the  sphere  of  vulgar 
greed  or  ambition — "  I  have  coveted  no  man's  silver,  or 
gold,  or  apparel."  Apparel  is  mentioned  as  being  an  article 
highly  valued  in  the  East ;  "  changes  of  raiment "  being  a 
common  present,  and  no  little  money  being  often  expended 
on  them.  It  was  not  theirs,  but  them,  that  the  apostle 
coveted — not  what  they  had,  but  what  they  might  come  to 
be.  He  cared  nothing  for  what  the  world  desires;  gold 
would  have  been  but  a  burden ;  and  a  well-filled  wardrobe 
was  no  object  to  the  pedestrian  traveller.  Food  and  raiment 
were  all  he  needed,  and  he  did  not  always  get  them;  for  he 
was  often  "  in  hunger  and  fasting,  in  cold  and  nakedness.'7 
He  could  not  sometimes  procure  the  barest  necessaries  of 
life ;  and  if  he  was  at  any  time  unable  to  work,  he  must 
have  been  sorely  pinched.  What  cared  he,  therefore,  for 
wealth  or  finery?  He  did  not  demand,  far  less  expect, 
pecuniary  enrichment.  Souls  were  his  hire ;  his  highest 
compensation  was  in  winning  men  from  sin  and  Satan. 
His  reward  was  in  heaven,  under  the  eye  of  the  Master, 
and  inaugurated  by  the  Master's  greeting.  What  a  con- 


UNSELFISH   LABOUR.  345 

trast  to  many  of  the  "  grievous  wolves,"  who  make  a  gain 
of  godliness,  and  strip  the  flock  of  their  fleece  as  they  prey 
upon  them ;  whose  object  is  selfish  ease  and  indulgence  at 
the  expense  of  their  victims  who  are  as  infatuated  as  the 
Jews  at  Horeb,  when  they  brake  off  their  golden  earrings, 
and  made  a  lavish  contribution  of  them  for  the  beloved 
calf.  The  apostle  acted  in  the  spirit  of  the  aged  Samuel. 
When  the  form  of  government  was  changed,  Samuel, 
who  had  been  judge  for  so  long  a  period,  took  farewell 
of  the  people  in  the  memorable  appeal — "  Behold,  here  I 
am :  witness  against  me  before  the  Lord,  and  before  His 
anointed;  whose  ox  have  I  taken?  or  whose  ass  have  I 
taken?  or  whom  have  I  defrauded  ?  whom  have  I  oppressed  ? 
or  of  whose  hand  have  I  received  any  bribe  to  blind  mine 
eyes  therewith  ?  and  I  will  restore  it  you.  And  they  said, 
Thou  hast  not  defrauded  us,  nor  oppressed  us,  neither  hast 
thou  taken  ought  of  any  man's  hand.  And  he  said  unto 
them,  The  Lord  is  witness  against  you,  and  His  anointed 
is  witness  this  day,  that  ye  have  not  found  ought  in  my 
hand.  And  they  answered,  He  is  witness." 

But  he  not  only  asserts  his  disinterestedness,  he  produces 
positive  proof,  in  which  all  of  them  must  at  once  have 
acquiesced.  For  he  appeals  to  their  knowledge — "Yea, 
ye  yourselves  know,  that  these  hands  have  ministered  unto 
my  necessities,  and  to  them  that  were  with  me."  The  fact 
was  patent,  quite  as  well  known  as  the  fact  of  his  residence 
among  them.  Not  only  did  he  work  to  supply  his  own 
wants,  but  the  wants  of  them  that  were  with  him.  His 
generosity  was,  therefore,  unchallenged ;  he  laboured  to 
support  his  colleagues  as  well  as  himself  j  for  his  was  the 


346  PAUL  AT  MILETUS. 

energy  of  a  master-mind  in  things  of  business,  as  well  as 
in  spiritual  functions.  And  he  could  say — These  hands 
have  done  it  —  these  hands,  stained  and  peeled  by  the 
manipulations  of  his  daily  industry.  What  a  noble  appeal ! 
corroborated  also  by  what  he  writes  to  Corinth  at  the 
period  referred  to.  From  Ephesus,  during  the  time  that 
"these  hands  were  ministering  to  his  necessities,"  he  wrote 
his  first  epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  where  he  says — "  Even 
to  this  present  hour  we  both  hunger  and  thirst,  and  are 
naked  and  are  buffeted,  and  have  no  certain  dwelling-place, 
and  labour  working  with  our  own  hands."  In  these  words 
there  is  a  very  touching  allusion — "  We  have  no  certain 
dwelling-place."  It  reveals  the  longing  of  one  conscious 
of  advancing  age  and  the  approach  of  its  infirmities.  His 
apostolate  demanded  a  continuous  journeying,  and  he  was 
not  unlike  his  Lord  who  had  not  "where  to  lay  His  head." 
But  as  years  passed  on,  his  unsettled  life  began  to  be  felt 
more  than  previously  as  a  self-denial.  Age  comes  to  like 
repose.  Many  a  one  who  has  spent  his  youth  as  way- 
wardly  as  the  butterflies  which  he  chased  in  the  fields, 
and  whose  manhood  brooked  no  control,  is  glad  to  creep 
in  his  old  age  to  the  workhouse.  The  sailor  who,  braving 
the  battle  and  the  breeze,  has  roamed  for  half  a  century, 
and  been  as  unsettled  as  the  waves  on  which  he  toiled 
and  fought,  finds  his  desired  haven  in  the  palatial  asylum 
provided  for  him  by  the  nation.  They  who  have  no  certain 
dwelling-place  are  usually  under  stigma,  and  vagabond  is 
synonymous  with  lawless ;  while  the  steps  of  a  labouring 
man  homewards,  avoiding  the  haunts  of  temptation  and 
intemperance,  are  usually  steps  heavenwards  also.  Men  get 


BENEFICENCE.  347 

tired  of  wandering — repose  is  coveted ;  and  the  apostle  was, 
as  a  man,  no  exception,  though  his  journeys  were  made 
in  God's  name,  and  for  the  purpose  of  dispensing  God's 
blessings.  The  rest  he  sighed  for  soon  came  to  him — two 
years'  detention  at  Cesarea,  and  as  many  at  least  in  Home. 

The  conclusion  of  the  address  is  in  the  same  strain.  "I 
have  showed  you  all  things,  how  that  so  labouring  ye 
ought  to  support  the  weak ;  and  to  remember  the  words  of 
the  Lord  Jesus,  how  he  said,  It  is  more  blessed  to  give 
than  to  receive."  I  have  showed  you  all  things — as  to 
all  things;  or  rather  in  all  ways.  By  the  weak  must 
be  understood  not  weak  in  faith,  but  simply  the  poor, 
needing  support  from  the  fruits  of  the  industry  of  their 
Christian  brethren.  The  apostle  showed  this — taught  and 
enforced  it,  yea,  exemplified  it  in  his  own  conduct.  Their 
labours  were  not  to  be  solely  for  themselves,  but  in  gene- 
rous sympathy  with  others:  so  labouring — as  I  did,  and 
with  the  end  which  I  had  in  view.  In  the  same  spirit  he 
afterwards  wrote  to  them — "Let  him  that  stole  steal  no 
more :  but  rather  let  him  labour,  working  with  his  hands 
the  thing  which  is  good,  that  he  may  have  to  give  to  him 
that  needeth." 

Such  generosity  is  truly  Christian.  It  is  the  spirit  of 
Him  who  "  came  not  to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to 
minister;"  the  spirit  of  that  brotherhood  which  He  has 
formed,  and  the  basis  of  that  eulogy  which  He  pronounces 
at  last.  For  oneself  and  for  no  one  else,  for  oneself 
in  everything,  for  oneself  in  thought,  labour,  and  enjoy- 
ment— as  if  this  were  either  happiness  or  the  image  of  it 
— that  is  in  utter  antagonism  not  only  to  Paul's  example, 


348  PAUL  AT   MILETUS. 

but  to  the  divine  Master's  maxim — "It  is  more  blessed 
to  give  than  to  receive."      The  saying  is  not  recorded, 
for,  if  all  that  Jesus  said  had  been  recorded,  "  the  world 
would  not  contain  the  books   that  should  be  written." 
Many  sayings  of  the  divine  Teacher  must  have  been  in  the 
mouths  and  memories  of  the  early  church ;  those  precious 
sentences,  as  terse  in  expression  as  pregnant  with  thought 
— winged  words,  wafted  through  the  churches  like  the 
seeds  of  the  thistle-down  through  the  air.     The  apostle 
had  formerly  uttered  the  saying,  and  now  he  bids  them 
remember  it.     The  term  "  blessed "  was  a  favourite  one 
with  the   Lord.      The  Old   Testament   had   ended  with 
threatening  and  a  "  curse,"  but  the  New  Testament  opens 
with  beatitude  and  promise.     Blessing  is  Christ's  work, 
"blessed"  is  His  epithet,  as  in  the  sermon  on  the  Mount. 
The  Saviour  does  not  cast  any  slur  upon  receiving.     No, 
it  is  good  to  receive,  but  it  is  better  still  to  give.     It  is  good 
to  receive,  for  we  are  needy — in  want  of  all  things ;  and  all 
we  have  God  gives  us — life,  and  breath,  and  all  things:  good 
to  receive,  for  He  has  offered  His  best  gift  in  His  Son, 
and  seals  it  by  His  spirit :  good  to  receive,  for  we  need 
pardon,  holiness,  life,  joy,  and  spiritual  maturity.     Our 
prayer  is  for  more  gifts,  and  for  a  fuller  receptivity.    "Open 
thy  mouth  wide"  is  the  command,  "and  I  will  fill  it"  is  the 
promise.     But  though  it  is  blessed  to  receive,  it  is  more 
blessed  to  give.    It  shows  that  you  have,  and  can  part  with 
what  you  have ;  that  you  have  been  blessed,  and,  in  being 
blessed,  are  made  a  blessing  to  others.     Receiving  makes 
us  happy,  but  by  giving  we  impart  happiness — a  work 
which  is  noble  and  godlike.     In  giving  we  are  doing  what 


MOKE  BLESSED  TO  GIVE.  349 

God  is  doing,  and  blessed  must  be  such  an  imitation  of 
Him — the  cistern  parting  with  the  waters  poured  into  it 
from  the  fountain.  Creation  depicts  the  same  doctrine: 
the  sun  shines  not  for  himself,  the  clouds  pour  down  their 
showers  upon  us,  the  flowers  shed  abroad  their  perfume, 
and  the  earth  yields  her  increase.  Selfishness  is  wholly 
unlike  God  and  the  works  of  his  hands ;  love  is  the  law  of 
nature  as  well  as  of  grace,  and  is  on  all  sides  divine.  An 
old  commentator  has  remarked,  that  the  rich  man  in  the 
parable  had  no  need  to  form  the  resolution  of  building  a 
larger  storehouse  for  his  increasing  goods,  for  "  the  poor 
man's  belly  should  be  the  rich  man's  granary."  "  I  felt 
more  pleasure,"  says  a  distinguished  seaman,  who  had 
bravely  borne  himself  during  a  wreck,  "  in  restoring  an 
infant  only  three  weeks  old  to  its  mother,  than  ever  I  felt 
in  the  proud  moment  of  victory."  Even  Julius  Caesar 
could  say,  that  no  music  was  so  sweet  to  his  ear  as  the 
requests  of  his  friends  for  assistance ;  and  Mark  Antony, 
when  in  the  depth  of  adversity,  could  remark  that  he  had 
lost  all  save  what  he  had  given  to  his  friends.  So  true  is 
it  universally  that  what  men  keep  they  lose,  and  what  they 
part  with  they  retain,  and  that  the  highest  happiness  is 
to  create  and  diffuse  it.  There  was  a  family  reduced  to 
penury  by  a  series  of  disasters,  and  no  one  was  told  of  it. 
Pieces  of  furniture  were  quietly  parted  with,  that  the 
little  ones  might  not  break  the  mother's  heart  by  crying  for 
bread  in  vain.  But  there  was  no  appeal  made,  save  to 
Him  who  heareth  "  the  young  ravens  which  cry."  Sus- 
picions were  at  length  aroused,  for  the  children  were 
seen  to  gather  and  devour  the  crumbs  which  fell  from  the 


350  PAUL  AT  MILETUS. 

hands  of  their  playmates.  The  curious  eye  of  a  neighbour 
watched  the  movements  of  the  father,  and  saw  him  gather 
in  the  dark  such  husks  as  swine  do  eat,  and  carry  them 
stealthily  home.  A  chink  in  the  window  revealed  the 
household  revelling  in  the  coarse  and  unsatisfying  fare, 
over  which  the  provider  reverently  asked  the  accustomed 
blessing.  The  story  was  confidentially  imparted  to  a 
benevolent  friend,  who  at  once  and  anonymously  sent  by 
an  untraceable  channel  a  handsome  relief.  The  joy  of  the 
family  that  evening,  on  receiving  from  Providence  what 
they  deemed  an  answer  to  their  prayers,  was  beyond 
telling,  though  in  years  of  future  prosperity  they  were  glad 
to  tell  it,  but  it  was  not  equal  to  the  blessedness  of  the 
kind  bestower ;  even  though  their  joy  was  similar  in  nature, 
though  not  in  degree,  to  what  was  felt  in  the  home  of 
Bethany  that  first  night  which  he  who  had  lain  three  days 
in  the  grave  spent  with  his  sisters  after  his  resurrection. 
The  joy  of  a  benefactor  is  an  image  of  the  happiness  of  the 
divine  Wonderworker,  whose  moments  of  ecstacy  after  a 
miracle  compensated  Him  for  daily  scorn  and  privation 
— the  joy  He  still  feels  when  He  sees  of  the  travail  of  His 
soul  and  is  satisfied.  The  happiness  of  the  saint  who  has 
received  and  is  before  the  throne,  is  far  inferior  to  that  of 
Him  who  has  given  it  and  is  upon  the  throne.  No  new 
emotion  is  this  blessedness,  it  is  as  old  as  the  patriarch 
of  Uz — "When  the  ear  heard  me,  then  it  blessed  me 
and  when  the  eye  saw  me,  it  gave  witness  to  me;  because 
I  delivered  the  poor  that  cried,  and  the  fatherless,  and  him 
that  had  none  to  help  him.  The  blessing  of  him  that 
was  ready  to  perish  came  upon  me;  and  I  caused  the 


PAETING  PRAYER.  351 

widow's  heart  to  sing  for  joy."  How  unlike  those  words 
of  the  Lord  Jesus  to  the  heathen  proverb,  "  Silly  the 
giver,  happy  the  getter." 

The  tender  and  solemn  discourse  was  followed  by  a 
prayer.  In  praying  with  them,  he  knelt  down — that  unusual 
posture  being  a  token  of  his  fervour,  and  how  much  he  was 
overcome  by  the  scene.  The  usual  posture  for  prayer  was 
standing,  both  in  the  Jewish  church  and  in  the  early 
Christian  church.  In  special  circumstances,  as  those  of 
Solomon  at  the  dedication  of  the  temple,  Daniel  in  his 
chamber,  Peter  on  the  housetop,  and  Stephen  in  the  act  of 
martyrdom,  kneeling  was  naturally  resorted  to.  But  in 
the  public  assemblies  they  stood,  being  commanded  "to 
stand  up  "  to  engage  in  devotional  exercise  in  the  days  of 
Ezra ;  and  our  Lord  alludes  to  the  same  custom  when  he 
says,  "  when  ye  stand  praying."  Those  whom  the  apostle 
addressed  were  profoundly  agitated  by  his  last  words — 
"  They  all  wept  sore,  and  fell  on  Paul's  neck,  and  kissed 
him ;  sorrowing  most  of  all  for  the  words  which  he  spake, 
that  they  should  see  his  face  no  more.  And  they  accom- 
panied him  unto  the  ship."  They  saw  him  on  board, 
and  they  could  not  but  stand  on  the  beach  and  behold 
with  tearful  eyes  the  vessel  unfurl  her  sails  j  and  there 
would  be  tokens  of  recognition  and  farewell  exchanged 
again  and  again  as  the  distance  widened,  till  the  hull 
sank  out  of  view,  and  canvass  and  spars  lessened  into  a 
speck,  and  at  length  disappeared. 


XIV.—  PAUL  AT  JEKUSALEM. 


SPEECH    FROM     THE   STAIRS    OP    THE    GARRISON. 

ACTS  xxii.  1—30. 

THE  departure  from  Miletus  had  been  a  scene  of  great 
tenderness  and  sorrow.  The  sacred  historian  says,  "  After 
we  were  gotten  from  them,"  literally,  after  we  had  been 
torn  from  them.  They  could  not  bear  to  separate  after 
such  a  sermon,  such  a  communion,  and  such  a  wondrous 
deed  of  resuscitation.  It  had  been  a  revival,  and  the  life 
stimulated  by  that  preaching  and  fed  from  that  sacrament, 
was  imaged  out  in  that  miracle.  They  looked  upon  the 
preacher  and  life-  restorer,  and  could  not  keep  their  eyes 
off  him  ;  took  another  wistful  look,  and  yet  another,  for 
"they  should  see  his  face  no  more."  "  They  all  wept  sore, 
and  fell  upon  Paul's  neck  and  kissed  him,"  unable  to 
restrain  their  grief  as  the  memory  of  his  past  labours  and 
trials  pressed  upon  them,  followed  by  the  thought  that 
this  was  a  last  farewell.  Could  he  have  held  out  the 
possibility  of  return,  had  he  but  said  that  he  should  make 
an  effort  to  come  back,  their  misery  might  have  been 
moderated.  But  to  see  his  face  no  more  threw  over  them 
the  pall  of  death,  it  was  as  if  they  had  stood  by  his 
sepulchre.  Depart  on  thy  old  mission,  pursue  thy  path  of 


JOURNEY  TO  JERUSALEM.  353 

threatened  dangers,  thou  brave  and  gentle  heart ;  shadows 
are  closing  around  thee  and  thickening  before  thee.  Fare- 
well, and  again  farewell ! 

The  weather  was  propitious,  and  the  ship  ran  that  day 
before  the  wind  forty  miles  down  to  the  fertile  island  of 
Coos;  the  next  day  it  reached  Rhodes,  famed  for  its 
Colossus,  or  huge  statue  of  Apollo,  at  its  harbour,  and 
thence  entered  the  port  of  Patara — a  maritime  city  a  short 
way  to  the  east  of  the  mouth  of  the  river  Xanthus.  The 
vessel  proceeded  no  farther,  but  "  finding  a  ship  sailing 
over  unto  Phoenicia,  we  went  aboard,  and  set  forth."  On 
the  voyage  they  sighted  Cyprus,  and  "  passing  it  on  the 
left  hand"  that  is,  to  the  east,  " sailed  into  Syria,  and 
landed  at  Tyre,  for  there  the  ship  was  to  unlade  her 
burden."  While  the  crew  were  employed  in  discharging 
the  cargo,  Paul  and  his  companions  were  also  busy  "finding 
disciples;"  having  sought  them  out,  "we  tarried  there 
seven  days."  These  disciples,  who  may  have  seen  the 
apostle  at  an  earlier  period,  when  he  "  went  through 
Syria,"  urged  him  not  to  proceed  to  Jerusalem.  They 
knew  from  supernatural  intimation  what  dangers  awaited 
him,  and  they  implored  him  to  avoid  them.  But  his 
martyr-spirit  would  not  listen,  and  both  parties  as  they 
separated  offered  prayer  on  the  beach  to  God.  Taking 
ship,  they  came  to  Ptolemais— called  Acco  in  the  Old 
Testament,  and  now  St.  Jean  d'Acre — and  remained  one 
day.  On  the  morrow  they  travelled  by  land  to  Csesarea, 
a  distance  of  about  forty-four  miles,  and  took  up  their 
abode  with  Philip  the  evangelist,  one  of  the  seven  deacons 
appointed  at  an  earlier  period,  and  whose  four  virgin 

z 


354  PAUL  AT  JERUSALEM. 

daughters   enjoyed  the   gift    of  prophecy,   as  Joel    had 
predicted  of  the  latter  times. 

During  their  sojourn  at  Philip's  house,  a  Judean  pro- 
phet named  Agabus  joined  them — "And  when  he  was 
come  unto  us,  he  took  Paul's  girdle,  and  bound  his 
own  hands,  and  said,  Thus  saith  the  Holy  Ghost,  So 
shall  the  Jews  at  Jerusalem  bind  the  man  that  owneth 
this  girdle,  and  shall  deliver  him  into  the  hands  of 
the  Gentiles."  This  prophecy  and  its  dramatic  accom- 
paniment produced  a  deep  effect  on  the  whole  company, 
and  they  unanimously  besought  Paul  to  pause  in  his 
journey :  u  Then  Paul  answered,  What  mean  ye  to  weep 
and  to  break  mine  heart?  for  I  am  ready  not  to  be 
bound  only,  but  also  to  die  at  Jerusalem  for  the  name  of 
the  Lord  Jesus."  He  was  not  to  be  deterred  by  any 
danger  from  what  he  believed  to  be  the  path  of  duty. 
He  wished  to  carry  to  Jerusalem  the  collections  made  in 
the  Gentile  churches,  in  the  hope  of  healing  the  division 
between  Hebrew  and  heathen  believers.  He  had  assumed 
what  he  regarded  as  a  sacerdotal  function,  being  the 
"  minister  of  Jesus  Christ  to  the  Gentiles,  ministering  the 
gospel  of  God,  that  the  offering  up  of  the  Gentiles  might 
be  acceptable,  being  sanctified  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  The 
Gentile  churches  were  his  oblation  prepared  for  Pentecost, 
a  living  "  tribute  of  a  free-will  offering."  He  was  ready 
not  to  be  bound  only,  but  also  to  die.  He  did  not  court 
martyrdom,  but  he  did  not  shrink  from  it.  The  prospect 
of  it  did  not  alarm  him,  for  he  had  risen  far  above  the  fear 
of  death.  Faith  achieves  what  philosophy  fails  to  do. 
The  calm  and  contemplative  Hobbes  was  often  terrified 


ARRIVAL  AT  JERUSALEM.  355 

at  the  idea  of  martyrdom,  lest  the  Leviathan  he  had  so 
laboriously  created  should  devour  him.  The  great  mind 
of  Samuel  Johnson  lay  under  solemn  terror  many  a  day 
at  the  thought  of  death.  Vexation  and  disappointment, 
affecting  their  vanity  or  their  ambition,  have  also  killed 
not  a  few.  On  the  other  hand,  the  leonine  heart  of  the 
German  reformer  approached  that  of  Paul,  but  Paul 
made  no  boast.  Luther  ^avowed  that  he  would  go  to 
Leipzig,  though  it  should  rain  Duke  Georges  for  nine 
days,  and  that  he  would  enter  Worms  though  there  should 
be  as  many  devils  in  it  as  there  were  tiles  on  the  roofs 
of  its  houses.  The  humble  spirit  of  the  apostle  did  not 
indulge  in  such  hyperboles ;  he  had  neither  the  natural 
buoyancy  nor  physical  robustness  of  the  hearty  Saxon. 
As  they  proceeded  to  Jerusalem,  it  is  said,  "  We  took  up 
our  carriages,"  or,  as  the  Geneva  version  has  it, fl  trussed 
up  our  fardels  " — packing  up  the  luggage  necessary  for  the 
journey.  Arrived  at  Jerusalem,  they  were  gladly  welcomed 
by  the  brethren,  and  seem  to  have  dwelt  with  Mnason  of 
Cyprus,  an  old  disciple — a  disciple  from  the  beginning,  or 
from  the  commencement  of  the  new  dispensation,  perhaps 
a  personal  follower  of  the  Lord.  Paul  lost  no  time  in 
visiting  James  and  declaring  "particularly  what  things 
God  had  wrought  among  the  Gentiles  by  his  ministry," 
and  James  and  the  elders,  when  they  heard  such  a 
report,  "glorified  the  Lord." 

But  what  course  should  be  now  pursued  ?  The  apostle 
of  the  Gentiles,  spite  of  all  his  efforts  to  win  them,  was  an 
object  of  extreme  dislike  to  the  Jewish  zealots — "  the  many 
thousands  which  believe,  and  are  all  zealous  of  the  law." 


356  PAUL  AT  JERUSALEM. 

James  proposed  a  compromise  to  which  Paul  assented. 
We  enter  not  on  the  question  whether  Paul  did  right  in 
submitting  in  such  a  matter  of  formal  ceremonial  to  the 
Mosaic  statute;  whether  he  did  not  venture  beyond  the 
legitimate  range  of  his  own  principle  of  becoming  "  to  the 
Jews  as  a  Jew."  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  unforeseen 
result  was — -the  peril  of  his  life  and  the  visit  to  Home,  on 
which  his  heart  had  been  set,  but  which  was  accomplished 
in  a  way  which  he  had  not  anticipated. 

Some  of  the  Asiatic  Jews,  that  is,  from  Ephesus,  imagined 
that  he  had  profaned  the  temple  by  bringing  an  Ephesian 
into  it,  whom  they  had  seen  with  him  in  some  parts  of  the 
city.  A  tumult  was  easily  raised  during  the  feast,  and  the 
apostle  was  dragged  out  of  the  temple,  for  his  enemies 
would  not  pollute  it  with  his  blood.  The  military  governor 
of  the  city,  during  the  festivals  when  popular  commotions  so 
often  broke  out,  had  his  men  under  arms  in  the  neighbouring 
fortress  of  Antonia  which  jealously  overlooked  the  temple, 
and  on  a  report  of  the  emeute  being  carried  to  him,  ran 
at  once  "with  soldiers  and  centurions"  to  the  spot  and 
rescued  Paul,  after  he  had  been  roughly  handled  and 
beaten.  Would  not  the  scene  appear  to  Paul  like  a  repe- 
tition of  that  in  which  he  had  taken  so  prominent  a  part — 
the  martyrdom  of  Stephen?  It  was  simply  because  the 
mob  was  without  weapons  that  the  apostle  survived ;  and 
they  still  pressed  so  violently  upon  him,  that  he  was  lifted 
up  the  garrison  stairs  by  the  soldiers,  "  lest  he  should  be 
torn  in  pieces."  As  he  was  about  to  enter  the  barracks  of 
the  fortress,  he  said  to  the  chief  captain,  "  May  I  speak 
unto  thee?"  who,  surprised  at  hearing  himself  addressed 


THE  STAIRS  OF  THE  FORTRESS.  357 

in  this  language,  replied,  "  Canst  thou  speak  Greek  ?  " 
Claudius  Lysias  had  evidently  taken  him  for  the  ringleader 
of  a  recent  rebellion.  The  answer  of  the  apostle  satisfied 
him,  and,  as  requested,  he  permitted  him  to  address  the 
furious  rabble.  One  wonders  at  the  permission,  but  the 
manner  and  aspect  of  the  prisoner  must  have  showed  that 
he  was  no  rebel,  that  he  was  not  fitted  to  be  a  political  or 
military  leader,  that  he  had  neither  the  hardy  frame  nor 
the  browned  aspect  of  a  guerilla  chieftain.  The  apostle 
had  spoken  in  many  a  place,  but  never  in  a  scene  of 
such  excitement — the  stricken  deer  turning  to  the  hounds 
whose  tongues  were  lapping  her  blood  in  anticipation. 
He  had  preached  in  the  synagogue  amidst  clamour,  and 
had  declaimed  on  Mars-hill  to  a  sneering  and  indifferent 
audience,  and  he  would  have  gone  into  the  theatre  at 
Ephesus  had  his  friends  not  dissuaded  him.  But  now  in 
Jerusalem,  with  the  temple  in  view — the  sacred  spot  of 
his  people  and  himself — under  the  shadow  of  the  smoke 
which  arose  from  the  great  altar,  after  an  assault  in  which 
he  had  been  rudely  jostled  and  savagely  struck,  his  clothes 
torn  and  his  cheeks  streaming  with  blood,  he  calmly  faces 
his  infuriated  foes;  and  without  trepidation,  and  as  if 
there  had  not  been  but  a  step  between  him  and  death  a 
few  moments  before,  "beckoned  with  the  hand  unto  the 
people."  He  had  spoken  to  the  chief  captain  in  Greek, 
but  he  now  addressed  them  in  the  Hebrew  tongue — the 
Syro-Chaldaic  which  they  were  now  in  the  habit  of 
speaking  as  their  mother-tongue.  They  expected  him  to 
address  them  in  Greek,  and  might  be  able  to  understand 
him,  but  "  they  kept  the  more  silence  "  when  he  bespoke 


358  PAUL  AT  JERUSALEM. 

their  attention  in  a  Hebrew  preamble.  They  took  it  as  a 
national  compliment,  and  their  fury  at  once  subsided  before 
the  words  of  the  orator  who  stood  above  them  upon  the 
stairs,  the  tribune  behind  him,  and  beside  him  two  soldiers 
to  whom  he  was  "  bound  with  two  chains." 

Thus  he  begins — "  Men,  brethren,  and  fathers,  hear  ye 
my  defence  which  I  now  make  before  you.  I  am  myself 
a  Jew — of  Tarsus  in  Cilicia  it  is  true,  yet  brought  up  in 
this  city  at  the  feet  of  Gamaliel,  educated  according  to 
the  strict  doctrine  of  the  law  of  my  fathers,  being  zealous 
toward  God,  like  as  ye  all  are  this  day.  1  was  one 
who  persecuted  this  way  unto  the  death,  binding  and 
throwing  into  prison  men  and  women,  as  also  the  high- 
priest  bears  me  witness  (he  being  still  alive),  and  all  the 
council  from  whom,  having  received  letters  also  to  the 
brethren,  I  was  journeying  to  Damascus  for  the  purpose  of 
bringing  those  who  were  there  to  Jerusalem  in  fetters,  that 
they  might  be  punished.  And  it  came  to  pass,  as  I  was 
journeying  and  drawing  near  Damascus,  about  noon,  sud- 
denly from  heaven  there  shone  a  great  light  round  about 
me.  And  I  fell  to  the  ground,  and  heard  a  voice  calling 
to  me — Saul,  Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  Me?  and  I 
answered — Who  art  Thou,  Lord  ?  and  He  said  to  me — I 
am  Jesus  the  Nazarene  whom  thou  persecutest.  And 
the  men  who  were  with  me  saw  indeed  the  light,  and  were 
terror-struck,  but  they  heard  not  (understood  not)  the 
voice  of  Him  that  was  speaking  to  me.  And  I  said — 
What  shall  I  do,  Lord  ?  And  the  Lord  said — Arise  and 
proceed  to  Damascus ;  there  it  shall  be  told  thee  of  all  the 
things  which  it  is  appointed  thee  to  do.  But  as  now  I 


ADDRESS.  359 

did  not  see  on  account  of  the  glory  of  that  light,  being 
led  by  the  hand  by  those  who  were  with  me,  I  came  to 
Damascus.  And  one  Ananias,  a  devout  man  according  to 
the  law,  having  a  good  report  among  all  the  Jews  who 
dwelt  there,  coming  to  me  and  standing  over  me,  said  to 
me — Brother  Saul,  receive  thy  sight  (look  up).  And  the 
same  hour  I  looked  up  upon  him  (received  my  sight).  And 
he  said — The  God  of  our  fathers  has  foreappointed  thee  to 
know  His  will,  and  to  behold  the  righteous  One,  and  to 
hear  the  voice  of  His  mouth ;  for  thou  shalt  be  a  witness 
for  Him  to  all  men  of  what  thou  hast  seen.  And  now 
why  delayest  thou  ?  Arise  and  have  thyself  baptized  and 
thy  sins  washed  away,  calling  on  His  name.  And  it  came 
to  pass,  after  I  had  returned  to  Jerusalem,  and  while  I  was 
praying  in  the  temple,  that  I  fell  into  an  ecstacy,  and  saw 
Him  saying  to  me — Haste  and  get  thee  quickly  out  of 
Jerusalem;  for  they  will  not  receive  thy  testimony  con- 
cerning me.  And  I  said — Lord,  they  know  themselves 
that  I  was  ever  imprisoning  and  beating  from  synagogue 
to  synagogue  those  that  believe  on  thee;  and  when  the 
blood  of  thy  martyr,  Stephen,  was  shed,  I  myself  also 
was  standing  by  and  consenting  heartily  and  keeping  the 
raiment  of  those  who  slew  him.  And  He  said  to  me — 
Depart ;  for  unto  the  heathen  afar  off  am  I  about  to  send 
thee." 

Now,  first,  we  may  notice  what  may  be  called  the  art- 
fulness of  this  address.  He  does  not  obtrude  offensive 
matter;  now  that  he  is  out  of  their  hands,  he  does  not 
speak  to  chafe  them,  that  he  may  enjoy  their  futile  rage. 
No;  he  speaks  honestly,  but  he  speaks  with  wondrous 


360  PAUL  AT  JERUSALEM. 

skill,  that  he  may  carry  them  along  with  him.  He  uses 
their  favourite  tongue,  though  himself  a  Hellenist,  and  for 
the  purpose  of  propitiating  them.  He  styles  them  out  of 
respect  brethren  and  fathers ;  tells  them  his  relationship  to 
Gamaliel  and  his  education  as  a  zealous  Pharisee ;  refers 
to  the  high-priest  who  had  sanctioned  his  proceeding ;  calls 
the  Jews  in  Damascus  "the  brethren;"  names  Jesus  only 
when  he  quotes  what  He  said ;  describes  Ananias  as 
"pious  according  to  the  law"  and  in  high  repute  among 
his  countrymen,  while  the  previous  narrative  names  him  a 
"  disciple ; "  speaks  of  Jehovah  by  the  Israelitish  term, 
"the  God  of  our  fathers;"  and  informs  them  how  after 
his  change  he  came  back  to  the  temple  and  did  as  all 
devout  Jews  did — prayed  in  it.  The  orator  did  not  wish 
to  give  unnecessary  provocation,  but  he  makes  a  calm  and 
impressive  statement. 

Again,  he  appeals  for  confirmation  to  themselves.  Theo- 
philus,  the  high-priest  from  whom  he  received  his  letter 
or  commission  to  Damascus,  was  alive,  and  might  be  pre- 
sent ;  while  many  of  the  sanhedrim  might  also  survive. 
What  he  wished  them  to  infer  was,  that  he  had  not 
changed  for  light  reasons — that  he  could  not  but  change 
— that  the  glory  which  enveloped  him  at  mid-day  was  no 
deception — and  that  his  ears  had  actually  heard  the  voice 
of  the  Nazarene.  It  was  the  Nazarenes,  as  they  were 
contemptuously  termed,  that  he  was  going  to  capture  and 
bind  in  Damascus;  and  his  interceptor  styled  Himself 
Jesus  the  Nazarene — the  simplest,  but  in  the  circumstances 
the  most  alarming  and  stinging  epithet  which  could  be 
employed.  He  hoped  that  they  who  knew  what  he  was 


THE  SPEECH  AND  THE   NARRATIVE.  361 

might  seek  to  know  what  he  had  become,  and  why  he  had 
abandoned  his  previous  course.  This  we  have  already 
considered  in  our  second  chapter — "  Paul  at  Jerusalem." 

The  account  of  his  conversion  here  given  by  himself 
differs  but  slightly  from  the  narrative  in  the  ninth  chapter. 
He  groups  together  its  more  prominent  incidents,  as  they 
bore  upon  the  object  which  he  had  immediately  in  view. 
The  very  fact,  that  the  author  of  the  book  of  the  Acts  has  left 
some  discrepancies,  when  he  could  easily  have  moulded  them 
into  uniformity,  shows  that  he  regarded  them  as  in  perfect 
harmony.  Speaking  from  his  vivid  recollection,  the  apostle 
calls  the  light  a  "great"  light,  and  he  names  the  precise 
period  of  the  day — variations  from  the  historical  account, 
but  natural  to  the  orator  describing  earnestly  his  own 
experience.  The  historian  relating  the  circumstances  says 
that  the  companions  of  Saul  were  speechless — the  orator 
simply  says  they  were  afraid — alarmed.  In  the  ninth 
chapter  it  is  said — "They  heard  the  voice,  but  saw  no 
one  " — dazzled  with  excess  of  light ;  but  here  it  is  said 
that  they  "  saw  the  light,  but  heard  not  the  voice  " — the 
meaning  being,  that  though  the  splendour  enveloped  them, 
they  saw  not  Him  from  whose  glorified  humanity  it  flashed; 
and  though  they  heard  the  sound,  they  could  not  distinguish 
the  articulate  words  which  it  pronounced  to  the  ear  of  the 
apostle.  The  speaker  omits  what  the  narrator  has  told  as 
the  dialogue  of  the  Lord  with  Ananias,  but  he  brings  out 
other  features — that  Ananias  was  a  Jew,  a  devout  observer 
of  the  law,  and  held  in  high  repute  by  all  the  Jews  in 
Damascus.  What  the  apostle  reports  as  being  said  to  him 
by  Ananias  is  not  given  in  the  previous  account,  but  the 


362  PAUL  AT  JERUSALEM. 

substance  was  spoken  by  the  Lord  to  Ananias,  and  he 
naturally  repeated  it  when  he  visited  Saul  in  the  street 
called  Straight.  But  the  appearance  of  the  Kedeemer  is 
specially  dwelt  upon,  as  this  placed  Paul  on  a  level  with 
the  other  apostles  as  "  eye-witnesses  of  His  majesty." 
From  the  Saviour's  lips  he  received  his  commission,  and 
having  seen  Him,  he  could  testify  as  truly  as  Peter  and 
John  that  He  was  risen  from  the  dead. 

The  apostle's  main  end  is  to  show  that  he  did  not  disown 
the  religion  of  his  fathers  as  a  creed  which  he  had  ceased 
to  believe  in — that  he  had  been  profoundly  attached  to  it, 
and  still  venerated  it  as  divine  in  its  claims  and  origin — 
that  he  had  only  gone  beyond  it  under  a  supernatural 
summons  which  he  durst  not  resist —that  he  had  espoused 
the  religion  of  Jesus  as  the  fulfilment  of  Judaism,  and  not 
as  a  hostile  or  a  rival  faith — that  he  did  not  cease  to  be 
a  Jew  on  becoming  a  Christian,  or  renounce  the  ties  of 
country  and  kindred — and  that  his  Christianity  did  not 
prevent  him  from  revisiting  Jerusalem,  the  chief  city  of 
his  people,  and  offering  prayer  in  the  temple,  their  one  holy 
place. 

The  populace  listened  till  he  uttered  his  commission  to 
the  Gentiles :  they  bore  with  him  till  he  came  to  this 
hated  word,  and  in  a  moment  the  sea  of  faces  beneath  him 
lashed  itself  into  fury,  and  they  shouted — "Away  with 
such  a  fellow  from  the  earth,  for  it  is  not  Jit  that  he  should 
live" — literally,  was  not  fit — he  should  not  have  been 
rescued  by  the  chief  captain  from  our  hands.  He  had 
been  accused  of  sacrilege — of  profaning  the  holy  place — 
and  they  imagined  that  his  words  were  tantamount  to  a 


EOMAN  CITIZENSHIP.  363 

confession  of  his  guilt  and  a  vindication  of  his  conduct. 
In  their  phrenzy  they  cried  out,  tossed  about  their  clothes 
in  wild  excitement,  and  "  threw  dust  into  the  air,"  in  token 
of  exasperation.  Lysias  the  tribune,  not  knowing  what 
the  apostle  said,  and  seeing  what  commotion  his  foreign 
words  had  produced,  commanded  that  he  should  be  taken 
into  the  garrison,  and  put  to  the  torture,  that  the  nature  of 
the  charges  against  him  might  be  discovered.  As  they 
bound  him  with  thongs  in  such  a  way  as  to  prepare  him  for 
the  scourge,  he  felt  that  it  was  his  right  to  secure  immunity, 
and  put  the  quiet  question  to  the  presiding  centurion — "  Is 
it  lawful  for  you  to  scourge  a  man  that  is  a  Roman  and 
uncondemned" — not  even  put  upon  his  trial?  He  did  not 
turn  in  anger  and  dare  or  defy  them  to  lay  a  hand  upon  him, 
or  tell  them  what  vengeance  should  fall  on  them  if  they  did. 
He  states  the  simple  query,  and  the  few  words  acted  like 
magic.  The  centurion  reported  them  at  once  to  his  tribune, 
and  warned  him  of  the  hazard.  "  Then  the  chief  captain 
came,  and  said  unto  him,  Tell  me,  art  thou  a  Roman  ?  He 
said,  Yea.  And  the  chief  captain  answered,  With  a  great 
sum  obtained  I  this  freedom.  And  Paul  said,  But  I  was 
free-born."  The  prisoner  stood  on  higher  ground  than  his 
interrogator ;  they  who  should  have  put  him  to  the  question 
left  him,  and  Lysias  was  afraid,  as  if  he  had  gone  too  far  in 
even  preparing  to  scourge  a  Roman  citizen.  To  bind  the 
prisoner  for  safe-keeping  was  no  crime,  but  to  bind  him 
into  the  posture  for  flagellation  was  an  infringement  of  the 
law  and  the  majesty  of  Rome.  But  not  knowing  well 
what  to  do  in  the  case,  not  understanding  the  nature  of 
the  popular  enmity  and  clamour  against  his  prisoner,  and 


364  PAUL  AT  JERUSALEM. 

"  because  he  would  have  known  the  certainty  wherefore  he 
was  accused  of  the  Jews,"  he  summoned  the  sanhedrim, 
11  the  chief  priests,  and  all  their  council,"  "  on  the  morrow," 
"loosed  him  from  his  bands/'  "and  brought  Paul  down 
and  set  him  before  them." 


PAUL  AT  JERUSALEM.  365 


BE. 


BEFORE     THE     SANHEDRIM. 

ACTS  Ttxiii.  1—11. 

The  council  are  met,  not  in  the  old  hall,  Gazith,  where 
they  were  wont  to  assemble — a  chamber  into  which  from 
its  position  none  but  a  Jew  might  enter — but  in  some 
place  beyond  the  sacred  precincts  of  the  temple,  and  to 
which  the  Roman  power  could  have  immediate  access. 
The  apostle  is  brought  in  by  his  guards,  and  set  before 
them.  It  is  likely  that  he  had  once  occupied  a  seat  in 
that  high  court  himself,  but  he  who  had  been  the  judge 
is  now  the  prisoner.  All  eyes  must  have  been  turned 
upon  him;  for  his  career  and  character  had  been  noto- 
rious, and  the  agitation  of  yesterday  had  scarcely  sub- 
sided. Some  were  there  who  might  have  known  Saul 
in  the  school  of  Gamaliel,  and  been  his  competitors  in 
rabbinical  studies.  They  had  not  only  witnessed  his 
piety  and  admired  his  erudition,  but  they  must  have 
marked  the  zeal,  energy,  and  downrightness  which  had 
distinguished  him,  the  absence  of  indifference  in  his 
nature,  his  formation  of  high  and  definite  purposes  and 
the  integrity  and  tenacity  with  which  he  pursued  them, 
the  keenness  of  his  intellect  and  the  ardour  of  his  temper, 
the  conscientiousness  with  which  he  chose  a  side,  and  the 
chivalrous  energy  with  which  he  flung  himself  at  once  into 
its  defence.  Many  of  them  might  not  have  seen  him  for 


366  PAUL  AT  JERUSALEM. 

years,  and  they  could  not  but  be  struck  with  his  altered 
appearance — his  furrowed  brow  and  shattered  frame. 
Twenty  years  of  toil,  travel,  and  suffering  had  told  upon 
him,  and  he  was  now  such  an  one  as  "  Paul  the  aged;" 
for  scourging,  stoning,  shipwreck,  cold,  hunger,  and  rags, 
continual  perils  in  every  place,  and  perpetual  corrosion  of 
heart  from  the  "care  of  all  the  churches"  had  broken  down 
his  constitution.  Eagerly  as  the  eyes  of  the  sanhedrim 
scanned  him,  he  quailed  not,  but  calmly  and  steadily 
returned  their  gaze.  There  stood  Paul  "  earnestly  behold- 
ing the  council,"  trying  whom  he  could  recognize,  learning 
the  composition  of  the  assembly  on  whose  votes  his  fate 
depended,  and  balancing  the  hopes  of  a  fair  and  impartial 
investigation. 

His  lofty  moral  courage  did  not  desert  him,  and  he 
begins — "  Men  and  brethren,  I  have  lived  in  all  good 
conscience  before  God  until  this  day" — my  public  life 
to  God  has  all  along  been  a  conscientious  one.  His 
life  as  a  member  of  the  theocracy,  prior  to  his  change 
and  since  his  change,  had  been  regulated  by  conscience. 
Once,  indeed,  he  persecuted,  and  now  he  "built  up  the 
faith  which  he  once  destroyed."  But  in  both  cases  he  had 
acted  not  only  sincerely,  but  in  perfect  deference  to  the 
theocratic  principle.  Before  he  understood  Christianity 
he  strove  to  suppress  it  as  an  impious  innovation,  and 
after  he  embraced  it  he  felt  it  to  be  only  the  spiritual 
renovation  and  development  of  the  old  economy.  He  was 
a  conscientious  Jew  at  both  periods — in  blaspheming  as 
well  as  in  preaching  Christ.  He  was  wrong,  indeed, 
far  wrong  in  the  first  action,  and  he  honestly  and  deeply 


CHRISTIANITY  THE  CROWN  OF  JUDAISM.  367 

repented  it ;  but  lie  had  acted  up  to  his  light,  and  when 
new  light  was  thrown  in  upon  him  he  was  bound  to 
follow  it.  He  had  not  become  a  renegade  as  they  imagined, 
or  renounced  his  circumcision.  He  gloried  still  in 
Abraham,  but  more  in  his  faith  than  in  his  blood.  He 
had  not  ceased  to  love  Jerusalem,  "the  city  of  solemnities," 
and  he  had  again  and  again  paid  it  a  visit.  He  wor- 
shipped in  the  temple,  but  thought  more  of  the  spirit  of 
the  service  than  the  mere  ceremonial ;  and  he  regarded  the 
altar  not  so  much  in  its  present  victims  as  in  the  real  and 
glorious  propitiation  which  it  had  prefigured.  He  had 
renounced  Judaism  in  the  sense  that  a  child  leaves  the 
nursery  and  enters  the  world,  but  still  remains  a  member 
of  the  same  household.  He  never  acted  against  con- 
science, allowed  no  inferior  considerations  to  move  him, 
cast  all  aside  for  conviction's  sake,  yea,  had  sacrificed  all 
for  truth  and  God.  It  was  this  idea  that  filled  his  bosom, 
as  he  rose  to  address  the  council.  Nay,  he  had  not  forfeited 
his  right  to  sit  there,  by  obeying  the  prophets  and  believing 
the  promised  Messiah.  Why  should  one  who  accepted  the 
national  Messiah  forfeit  any  national  right  ?  Was  any  one, 
by  acting  as  the  inspired  teachers  bade  him,  to  denude 
himself  of  any  privilege  ?  He  will  not  admit  a  charge  of 
inconsistency,  for  he  has  only  taken  the  step  for  which 
Moses  and  Aaron,  David  and  Isaiah,  had  prepared  him. 
He  had  once  sat  on  those  benches,  and  why  should  not  he 
sit  now  ?  He  will  not  allow  that  he  has  done  anything  to 
disinherit  himself,  and  therefore  he  says,  "  Men-brethren," 
as  if  he  were  yet  one  of  themselves — a  judge  speaking  to 
his  colleagues  in  office.  Old  scenes  revive;  he  has  not 


368  PAUL   AT   JERUSALEM. 

cast  off  his  judicial  comrades,  and  though  he  spoke  to  the 
infuriated  crowd  as  "  Men,  brethren,  and  fathers,"  he  simply 
styles  the  sanhedrim  "  Men-brethren,"  not,  as  Peter  had 
styled  them,  "  Ye  rulers  of  the  people,  and  elders  of 
Israel." 

Ananias  the  high  priest  could  not  bear  such  an  intro- 
duction. It  was  not  an  appeal  to  clemency,  nor  even  an 
admission  that  matters  of  high  moment  were  in  debate. 
It  was  more  than  a  plea  of  not  guilty — it  was  a  protestation 
of  positive  rectitude,  containing  in  it  an  implied  charge 
against  the  judges.  Ananias  ordered  the  mouth  that 
uttered  these  sentiments  to  be  struck,  as  a  penalty  for  its 
sin.  He  had  spoken  so  wrongly  that  he  must  be  symboli- 
cally punished — his  "  cheek-bone"  hit  with  a  sandal,  and 
perhaps  his  "  teeth  broken "  by  the  blow.  This  sudden 
outbreak  of  temper  was  a  virtual  judicial  sentence  from 
the  head  of  the  council,  and  many  of  them  must  have 
acquiesced  in  it  as  a  just  punishment  for  contempt  of  court. 

The  apostle  would  not  bear  such  an  indignity  from  a 
court  with  which  he  felt  himself  quite  on  a  level.  He 
wished  his  case  to  be  tried,  and  his  reply  to  be  fully 
heard ;  and  it  was  heartless  on  the  part  of  Ananias  so  to 
treat  a  man  who  but  the  day  before  had  been  in  danger  of 
his  life,  and  was  now  defenceless  and  in  the  hands  of  the 
Eoman  power.  Paul  sought  only  fair  play ;  he  wanted  no 
partiality  shown  him,  and  he  would  have  scorned  to  say  a 
word  for  the  mere  purpose  of  ingratiating  himself  with  his 
judges.  But  that  mouth  must  be  struck,  if  this  ebullition 
of  temper  on  the  part  of  the  president  be  obeyed — the 
mouth  which  had  so  often  dropped  those  precious  pearls, 


ANANIAS.  369 

which  had  given  utterance  to  so  many  blessed  truths  in 
Asia  and  in  Europe,  and  all  because  mention  was  made  of 
conscience,  a  monitor  which  Ananias  possessed  not,  or  it 
had  so  often  warned  him  in  vain,  that  it  had  ceased  to 
whisper  any  suggestion  or  reproof. 

The  apostle  at  once  answered,  and  that  in  no  common 
tone — "  God  shall  smite  thee,  thou  whited  wall :  for  sittest 
thou  to  judge  me  after  the  law,  and  commandest  me  to  be 
smitten  contrary  to  the  law?"  These  words  can  scarcely 
be  regarded  in  any  other  light  than  a  prophecy  j  no  idle 
malediction  or  passionate  recrimination,  but  an  oracle  of 
doom  pronounced  on  one  who  had  so  shamefully  outraged 
the  office  which  he  filled.  He  was  a  hypocrite,  notoriously 
venal  and  ambitious ;  and  the  sacerdotal  robes,  made  "  for 
glory  and  for  beauty,"  covered  a  depraved  and  cruel  heart. 
His  office  was  to  judge  according  to  law,  and  by  evidence 
calmly  weighed ;  but  he  violated  alike  its  letter  and  its 
spirit  by  his  peremptory  order.  Ananias,  the  son  of 
Nebedasus,  obtained  the  office  of  high  priest  under  the 
procurator,  Tiberius  Alexander,  and  he  held  it  also  under 
the  procurator  Cumanus.  Involved  in  a  quarrel  between 
Jews  and  Samaritans,  he  was  sent  a  prisoner  to  Kome  by 
Quadratus,  prefect  of  Syria,  but  the  emperor  Claudius 
decided  in  his  favour.  On  his  return  he  retained  his  office 
till  superseded  by  Ismael,  a  short  time  before  the  departure 
of  Felix  from  Judea.  After  his  deposition  from  the  pon- 
tificate, "he  increased  in  glory  every  day,"  as  Josephus 
says.  Bribery  and  violence  had  characterized  his  posses- 
sion of  power,  and  he  occupied  a  princely  palace  in  the 

Upper  city.    But  his  crooked  and  nefarious  policy  provoked 

2  A 


370  PAUL  AT  JERUSALEM. 

a  tragical  retaliation,  and  at  length,  at  the  commencemenf 
of  the  Jewish  insurrection,  the  sicarii,  or  lawless  assassins, 
surrounded  his  house  and  set  fire  to  it.  Ananias  fled  in 
haste  and  took  refuge  in  an  aqueduct,  out  of  which  he  was 
dragged  and  slain. 

The  apostle's  words  may  be  regarded  as  in  this  way 
fulfilled.  The  sentence,  however,  contains  a  general  prin- 
ciple often  illustrated  in  divine  providence.  "The  Lord 
is  known  by  the  judgment  which  he  executeth:  the  wicked 
is  snared  in  the  work  of  his  own  hands."  Thus  the 
maimed  Adonibezek  confessed,  "As  I  have  done,  so  God 
hath  requited  me;"  "As  thy  sword  hath  made  women 
childless,  so  shall  thy  mother  be  childless  among  women," 
said  Samuel  to  Agag ;  Nathan  foretold  a  retributive  fate 
to  David;  Daniel's  accusers  met  the  punishment  which 
they  had  plotted  for  him ;  and  Haman  was  hanged  on  the 
gallows  which  he  had  erected  for  his  adversary. 

The  apostle  had  no  sooner  spoken  than  he  was  checked. 
"  And  they  that  stood  by  said,  Revilest  thou  God's  high 
priest?"  The  rank  of  Ananias  is  at  once  insisted  on,  as 
if  that  could  shield  him  from  the  awful  fulmination.  The 
apostle  at  once  replied — "  I  wist  not,  brethren,  that  he  was 
the  high  priest:  for  it  is  written,  Thou  shalt  not  speak 
evil  of  the  ruler  of  thy  people."  The  meaning  of  this 
verse  has  been  much  questioned.  It  has  been  said  that 
the  apostle  means  to  reply  that  Ananias  was  not  high  priest, 
but  had  only  usurped  the  office,  and  that  Paul  did  not 
recognize  him — a  hypothesis  that  has  no  sure  historical  foun- 
dation, nor  does  the  apostle  speak  as  this  theory  supposes. 
Nor  can  it  mean  that  Paul  did  not  identify  the  high  priest, 


REPLY  TO  THE   HIGH   PRIEST.  371 

inasmuch  as  lie  had  been  long  absent  from  Jerusalem, 
and  might  not  be  acquainted  with  his  person.  But  the 
apostle  does  not  say  that  he  had  made  a  mistake  of  persons, 
or  that  he  was  ignorant  of  the  rank  of  Ananias,  who  must 
have  been  president  of  the  council.  Others  imagine  that 
the  apostle  pleads  defective  eye-sight,  and  that  his  vision 
had  been  seriously  impaired  ever  since  "  the  glory  of  that 
light"  had  blinded  him.  It  may  be  replied  that  the  scales 
fell  from  his  vision,  and  that  all  miracles  of  restoration 
are  perfect  in  final  result.  Or  even  if  his  sight  remained 
under  partial  weakness,  it  was  yet  so  good  as  to  enable  him 
to  work  at  his  occupation  as  a  tentmaker,  and  to  travel  by 
himself  in  a  strange  country.  Nay  more,  he  had  surveyed 
the  council  before  he  began,  and  must  have  seen  the  posi- 
tion of  its  supreme  judge.  The  word  rendered  in  the  first 
verse  "earnestly  beholding,"  does  not  denote,  as  some  would 
seem  to  think,  the  gaze  of  one  who  sees  imperfectly ;  it  is 
rather  a  steady  eager  look,  and  is  rendered  variously  in 
our  version.  Thus  in  Luke  iv.  20,  where  it  is  said  that 
the  "eyes"  of  all  the  synagogue  with  wonder  and  curi- 
osity "were  fastened"  on  Jesus;  Luke  xxii.  56,  A  maid 
beheld  Peter,  and  "earnestly  looked  upon  him,"  scanning 
his  features  so  as  to  recognize  him;  or  Acts  i.  10,  The 
eleven  disciples  "looked  stedfastly  toward  heaven,"  to 
catch  a  glimpse  of  the  ascending  Lord ;  Acts  iii.  4,  Peter 
"fastening  his  eyes"  upon  the  lame  man  at  the  beautiful 
gate  of  the  temple,  said,  &c.;  or  Acts  vi.  15,  As  the  face  of 
Stephen  became  like  the  face  of  an  angel,  all  that  sat  in  the 
council  were  "  looking  stedfastly  on  him,"  &c. 

None  of  the  previous  explanations  hold  for  another 


372  PAUL  AT  JERUSALEM. 

reason.  The  passage  of  scripture  quoted  by  the  apostle 
refers  not  exclusively  to  the  high  priest,  but  to  any  ruler, 
and  was  violated  if  evil  was  spoken  of  any  ruler  or  any  one 
of  the  assembled  council.  It  was  no  real  apology,  therefore, 
that  he  did  not  see  that  it  was  the  high  priest  who  offered 
him  this  insolence.  It  happened,  indeed,  to  be  the  high 
priest  who  spoke,  and  the  apostle  answered,  "  I  wist  not, 
brethren,  that  he  was  high  priest" — words  that  cannot 
mean,  I  did  not  know  that  such  a  man  could  be  a  high 
priest,  or,  I  know  the  law  to  which  you  allude,  but,  in 
speaking  as  I  have  done,  I  have  not  broken  it;  for,  if 
he  was  not  high  priest,  and  though  the  apostle  might 
deny  his  title,  he  was  at  least  a  ruler,  and  under  the  shield 
of  the  old  statute.  Had  he  wished  to  refuse  Ananias  all 
claim  to  the  pontificate,  might  he  not  have  used  the  lan- 
guage of  those  "  that  stood  by  " — "  I  know  him  not  for 
God's  high  priest,"  whatever  title  he  may  derive  from 
man's  authority  ?  The  conclusion,  then,  seems  to  be  that 
the  apostle  had  not  the  knowledge  present  to  his  mind  that 
it  was  the  high  priest  whom  he  was  addressing.  He  does 
not  formally  apologize,  but  perhaps  he  intimates  that  the 
words  might  have  been  differently  couched — that  he  might 
have  uttered  the  malediction  more  solemnly,  and  with  less 
of  personal  feeling  mingled  up  with  it.  Nor  does  he 
retract  it,  though  he  may  regret  that  it  did  fall  upon  a 
successor  of  Aaron.  What  a  terrible  thought  that  one 
whose  function  it  was  to  represent  the  people,  pass  beyond 
the  vail,  and  stand  before  the  ark,  should  be  so  foredoomed 
to  be  smitten  by  God ! 

This  incident  must  have  made  some  commotion,  which 


PHARISEE   AND   SADDUCEE.  373 

allowed  the  apostle  to  perceive  more  clearly  tlie  temper  of  his 
judges.  It  must  have  kindled  resentment  against  himself 
on  the  part  of  those  who  thought  themselves  affronted  by 
the  insult  offered  to  their  president.  Justice  was  not  to  be 
expected  from  an  impassioned  and  prejudiced  bench,  of  the 
members  of  which  Ananias  might  be  a  fair  specimen. 

The  apostle  now  discerned  the  composition  of  the  council, 
and  measured  his  advantage.  It  was  in  vain  for  him  to 
plead  any  farther — one  party  were  bound  by  their  previous 
creed  to  deny  the  very  possibility  of  his  most  striking 
proofs.  So  that  he  suddenly  threw  in  a  statement  which 
acted  like  the  explosion  of  a  bomb  among  his  judges. 
"  But  when  Paul  perceived  that  the  one  part  were  Saddu- 
cees,  and  the  other  Pharisees,  he  cried  out  in  the  council, 
Men  and  brethren,  I  am  a  Pharisee,  the  son  of  a  Pharisee : 
of  the  hope  and  resurrection  of  the  dead  I  am  called  in 
question.  And  when  he  had  so  said,  there  arose  a  dissen- 
sion between  the  Pharisees  and  the  Sadducees :  and  the 
multitude  was  divided."  The  apostle  only  stated  the  truth. 
Not  only  was  he  a  Pharisee,  but  the  son  of  a  Pharisee — or 
rather  Pharisees,  his  ancestry  being  Pharisees  for  many 
generations  back.  The  phrase — "  hope  and  resurrection  of 
the  dead,"  does  not  mean  merely  the  hope  of  a  resurrection, 
but  probably  contains  two  distinct  ideas — "hope"  as  a 
specific  thing — that  hope  in  all  likelihood  being  the  Mes- 
siah— the  grand  hope  of  the  nation ;  and  the  "  resurrection 
of  the  dead"  proved  indeed  and  exemplified  in  His.  Had 
the  prisoner  been  allowed  to  proceed,  he  would  soon  have 
unfolded  his  views,  and  shown  that  every  consistent  Phari- 
see must  follow  him  to  that  Saviour  who  had  glorified  the 


374  PAUL  AT  JERUSALEM. 

law  to  which  they  were  so  deeply  attached,  and  provided 
that  righteousness  of  which  they  were  so  eagerly  in  quest. 

What  he  was  charged  with  was  no  novelty.  It  was  as 
old  as  the  first  promise.  It  was  found  in  the  " adoption"  as 
its  blessing,  in  the  "  covenants  "  as  their  peculiar  heritage, 
in  "  the  giving  of  the  law  "  as  its  grand  object,  for  it  was  a 
schoolmaster  till  Christ,  and  in  "the  promises"  as  their  very 
centre  and  fulness.  Prayer  had  been  offered,  and  victims 
had  bled  for  it.  It  was  what  the  nation  had  been  originally 
organized  for,  and  what  it  lived  and  longed  for.  For  this 
hope  he  was  called  in  question,  for  a  hope  alike  dear  to 
saint  and  patriot ;  and  his  plea  is,  that  in  accepting  that 
hope  when  presented  in  the  fulness  of  the  time,  he  had  acted 
with  perfect  consistency  as  a  Jew,  and  with  honest  faith  as 
a  believer  in  God.  He  had  only  done  as  an  individual 
what  the  nation  should  have  done  as  a  body,  and  had  done 
simply  what  God  had  intended  they  should  do — ay,  and 
had  long  trained  them  for  doing.  His  conversion  had 
only  anticipated  what  might  have  been  and  ought  to  have 
been  the  national  decision  as  to  the  nation's  hope. 

The  resurrection  of  the  dead  had  been  an  article  of  the 
national  creed,  but  it  was  confirmed  and  illustrated  by  the 
resurrection  of  Him  who  brought  life  and  immortality  to 
light.  The  resurrection  implies  a  future  state.  That 
future  state  did  not  occupy  any  place  among  the  ratifica- 
tions of  the  Mosaic  code,  which  was  guarded  by  a  special 
providence,  nor  does  it  come  into  prominence  among  the 
Hebrew  prophets.  But  it  is  there — though  in  comparative 
obscurity.  Isaiah  sings — "Thy  dead  men  shall  live," 
and  the  figure  in  Ezekiel  as  to  the  valley  and  the  dry 


DIVISION  IN  THE  COUNCIL.  375 

bones,  is  based  upon  the  popular  belief  and  conception 
of  the  reality.  The  Pharisees  held  by  this  faith,  but  the 
Sadducees  denied  it.  These  rationalists  were  also  materialists 
— saying  that  there  is  "  no  resurrection,  neither  angel  nor 
spirit;"  either  denying  a  spirit- world  altogether,  or  affirm- 
ing that  mind  is  but  the  result  of  cerebral  organization — 
that  there  is  no  soul  in  man,  or  that  it  dies  with  his  body. 
How  they  received  the  Old  Testament,  and  explained 
away  the  passages  in  which  angels  and  supernatural  beings 
are  so  often  spoken  of,  we  do  not  know.  Only  we  know 
that  a  similar  process  is  not  uncommon,  and  that  men  in 
our  days  profess  to  accept  scripture,  and  yet  explain  away 
its  natural  meaning — declaring  the  story  of  creation  to  be 
a  myth,  and  that  of  the  deluge  a  fable  ;  regarding  angels 
but  as  names  of  such  messengers  as  a  "  flaming  fire,"  and 
devils  but  as  the  dreams  of  a  dark  superstition ;  holding 
that  prophecy  is  but  sagacious  conjecture,  and  miracles  but 
dexterous  feats ;  and  even  affirming  that  the  language  of 
Jesus  in  reference  to  demoniac  possession  and  the  resurrec- 
tion from  the  dead,  was  merely  a  conformity  to  current  forms 
of  thought  and  language.  Men  may  profess  to  take  the 
Bible,  and  thus  eliminate  all  that  characterizes  it — as  if  there 
might  be  salvation  without  a  saviour,  and  without  human 
souls  to  be  saved. 

The  council  was  at  once  divided.  "And  there  arose 
a  great  cry :  and  the  scribes  that  were  of  the  Pharisees' 
part  arose,  and  strove,  saying,  We  find  no  evil  in  this 
man ;  but  if  a  spirit  or  angel  hath  spoken  to  him,  let  us 
not  fight  against  God."  The  commotion  became  violent 
—  the  disputants  waxed  very  angry.  Fierce  polemi- 


376  PAUL  AT  JERUSALEM. 

cal  passions  were  at  once  let  loose.  The  Pharisees 
suddenly  discovered  that  their  old  adherent  might  be  used 
as  a  champion  against  their  Sadducean  foes,  and  at  once 
they  took  his  side — ceased  to  be  judges,  and  sank  into 
partisans.  It  was  a  strange  reaction  when  they  shouted — 
"  We  find  no  evil  in  this  man  " — a  sentiment  which  they 
could  not  in  their  hearts  believe,  but  what  he  had  spoken  was 
an  opportune  war-cry.  And  they  added  in  their  new-born 
zeal  and  patronage — "But  if  a  spirit  or  an  angel  hath 
spoken  to  him"  .  .  .  and  the  rest  of  the  sentence  was 
drowned  in  the  uproar.  The  one  word  rendered — "  Let  us 
not  fight  against  God  " — does  not  appear  to  form  a  portion 
of  the  text,  and  the  abrupt  sentence  has  a  special  emphasis, 
the  very  reference  to  spirit  and  angel  exasperating  their 
opponents  into  a  yell  which  interrupted  the  speakers. 
Thus  orthodoxy  clamoured,  and  heresy  retorted  with 
similar  din — nay,  the  debate  was  intensified  into  action, 
hands  were  laid  on  the  apostle,  and  he  was  clutched 
hither  and  thither  by  his  unexpected  allies  and  their 
antagonists.  Then  the  chief  captain  feared  "lest  Paul 
should  have  been  pulled  in  pieces  of  them" — some  assault- 
ing, and  others  defending  him;  and  there  being  no  hope 
of  the  restoration  of  quiet,  and  not  knowing  how  far  the 
unseemly  excitement  might  be  carried,  Lysias  "  com- 
manded the  soldiers  to  go  down  and  to  take  him  by  force 
from  among  them,  and  bring  him  into  the  castle." 

During  the  following  night,  when  strange  thoughts  must 
have  occupied  his  mind — the  scenes  of  the  day  starting  up 
before  him,  and  the  events  of  his  previous  life,  from  the 
martyrdom  of  Stephen  and  his  departure  under  the  high 


377 

priest's  commission  to  Damascus,  rising  vividly  in  his 
recollection,  while  his  mind  was  profoundly  impressed  by 
the  truth  of  the  repeated  warning  that  imprisonment 
awaited  him  in  Jerusalem,  and  he  might  be  wondering  as 
to  the  issue,  and  whether  his  fate  should  be  that  of  the 
protomartyr,  or  whether  he  should  be  able  to  accomplish 
his  earnest  wish  of  visiting  Italy — the  Lord  stood  by  him 
and  said,  "  Be  of  good  cheer,  Paul,  for  as  thou  hast  testified 
of  me  in  Jerusalem,  so  must  thou  bear  witness  also  at 
Kome."  His  heart  was  at  once  relieved  and  comforted. 
The  cloud  was  lifted.  The  Lord  was  his  shield,  and  had 
been  a  witness  of  all  the  procedure.  Faithful  service  is 
never  overlooked •  His  eye  is  never  dimmed.  "  Be  of 
good  cheer  "  is  His  frequent  salute,  and  His  words  do  their 
own  errands,  creating  what  they  command.  They  come  in 
the  crisis,  and  men  wonder  at  the  martyr's  courage.  How 
is  it  that  fetters  and  stripes,  and  every  form  of  refined 
cruelty,  do  not  quench  the  soul ;  that  the  sight  of  the 
rack  or  the  gibbet,  the  cage  of  wild  beasts,  or  the  fagots 
piled  up  before  the  stake,  do  not  terrify  a  prisoner  into 
weakness  or  recantation  ?  Is  it  not  that  Jesus  has  spoken, 
and  the  words  are  yet  ringing  in  his  ears — "  Be  of  good 
cheer  ?  "  May  not  every  one  who  works  and  witnesses  for 
Jesus  enjoy  the  same  blessed  consolation  ?  Shall  He  with- 
hold His  words  from  the  faithful  spirit  that  bows  to  no 
will  but  His,  relies  on  no  strength  but  His,  and  covets  no 
assistance  but  His  ?  Nay,  such  loyalty  reposing  on  such 
confidence  brings  Jesus  ever  near,  as  He  still  repeats  the 
same  syllables — "  Be  of  good  cheer." 

The  sanhedrim  could  not  destroy  the  apostle ;  an  invi- 


378  PAUL  AT  JERUSALEM. 

sible  hand  interposed  and  stayed  their  fury.  No  matter 
what  delays  might  happen,  or  what  obstacle  the  tardy 
and  hostile  operations  of  law  might  create — Rome  is  the 
goal.  There  were  compearances  before  Felix  and  Festus, 
and  two  years  of  captivity  at  Cesarea;  the  storm  raged 
fiercely  in  the  Mediterranean,  sending  the  ship  of  Alex- 
andria far  out  of  her  course,  and  casting  her  upon  an 
island  a  total  wreck ;  but  another  vessel  received  the 
prisoner,  and  he  whose  name  and  fame  had  preceded  him, 
landed  safely  at  Puteoli,  where  some  of  the  brethren  wel- 
comed him — "  and  so  we  went  towards  Rome." 


XVI.— PAUL  AT  CESAEEA. 
t 

BEFORE   FELIX. — ACTS   XXIV.  1-23. 

THE  apostle's  work  was  done  in  Jerusalem,  and  so  the 
words  of  Jesus  had  intimated.  But  how  he  was  to  reach 
Home  he  could  not  tell,  and  events  were  happening  around 
him  which  threatened  to  defeat  the  Master's  promise.  Dis- 
appointed of  their  prey,  more  than  forty  Jews  "  banded 
together,  and  bound  themselves  under  a  curse,  saying, 
that  they  would  neither  eat  nor  drink  till  they  had  killed 
Paul."  This  conspiracy  indicates  the  rancorous  fanaticism 
which  characterized  the  people.  Probably  those  men  were 
sicarii,  or  zealots — that  desperate  class  who,  pleading  the 
example  of  Phinehas,  took  the  execution  of  the  law  into  their 
own  hands,  and  at  length  sank  into  hired  assassins — paid 
agents  of  private  revenge.  To  show  the  state  of  feeling  and 
morals,  we  are  told  that  they  made  their  purpose  known 
to  the  sanhedrim,  who,  from  the  report  of  Paul's  nephew, 
seem  to  have  acquiesced  in  the  murderous  project.  Such 
a  conspiracy  was  quite  in  accordance  with  the  temper  of 
the  people.  Josephus  tells  us  of  ten  men  who  combined 
in  a  similar  way  against  the  life  of  Herod,  because  he  was 
deemed  an  apostate ;  and  Philo,  another  contemporary  of 
the  apostle — a  calm,  meditative,  and  philosophical  Jew — 
given  to  speculation  rather  than  political  or  ecclesiastical 
policy,  thus  writes — "  It  is  highly  proper  that  all  who  have 


380  PAUL  AT  CESAREA. 

a  zeal  for  virtue  should  have  a  right  to  punish  with  their 
own  hands,  without  delay,  those  who  are  guilty  of  this 
crime ;  not  carrying  them  before  a  court  of  judicature,  or 
the  council,  or,  in  short,  before  any  magistrate ;  but  they 
should  indulge  the  abhorrence  of  evil,  the  love  of  God, 
which  they  entertain,  by  inflicting  immediate  punishment 
on  such  impious  apostates,  regarding  themselves  for  the 
time  as  all  things — senators,  judges,  praetors,  sergeants, 
accusers,  witnesses,  the  laws,  the  people — so  that,  hindered 
by  nothing,  they  may  without  fear,  and  with  all  prompti- 
tude, espouse  the  cause  of  piety."  But  Providence  has 
many  modes  of  working  out  its  ends.  It  is  not  the  tribune 
or  his  centurions  who  are  to  save  Paul ;  nor  is  there  to  be 
any  bold  or  sagacious  unravelling  of  the  plot.  A  young 
man  suddenly  steps  upon  the  scene,  and  frustrates  it. 
Gaining  a  knowledge  of  it  by  some  means,  he  first  informs 
his  uncle,  and  by  him  is  sent  to  the  chief  captain  to  give 
him  similar  insight.  Lysias  was  well  aware  of  the  unscru- 
pulous nature  of  the  men  with  whom  he  had  to  deal,  and 
at  once  took  measures  for  his  prisoner's  safety  and  sent  him 
the  same  night  under  a  strong  military  escort  to  Cesarea. 

And  thus  Paul  finally  left  Jerusalem — a  prisoner  guarded 
by  a  troop  of  soldiers.  He  had  come  to  it  in  early  youth 
with  bright  hopes  and  eager  purposes.  His  rabbinical 
studies  had  delighted  him,  and  he  outstripped  many  com- 
petitors. The  juvenile  emotions  of  the  student,  as  he  first 
gazed  upon  the  metropolis — the  city  of  God,  and  the  scene 
of  so  many  glories  and  disasters — must  have  been  in 
strange  contrast  to  his  feelings,  when  as  a  prisoner,  and 
to  escape  assassination,  he  issued  from  one  of  its  northern 


JERUSALEM.  381 

gates,  in  the  midst  of  four  hundred  soldiers,  and  took  the 
road  to  Cesarea.  He  had  left  it  on  one  memorable  occa- 
sion for  Damascus,  and  come  back  three  years  after  totally 
changed  in  soul  and  pursuit.  Again  arid  again  had  he 
visited  it,  but  now  he  takes  leave  of  it  for  ever — a  foreign 
power  protecting  him  from  its  lawless  and  vengeful  populace ; 
the  clatter  of  those  hoofs,  and  the  glitter  of  those  spears 
in  the  starlight,  ever  and  anon  impressing  him  with  the 
strangeness  of  his  situation,  and  showing  him  that  Christ 
can  make  the  enemies  of  his  nation  his  shield  and  defence. 
A  few  years  later  and  the  Eoman  engines  compass  the 
"  holy  city."  Assault  after  assault  is  made  upon  it ;  point 
after  point  is  gained  through  successive  breaches ;  murder, 
faction,  plague,  and  famine  reign  within  it ;  the  temple  is 
set  on  fire ;  the  streets  run  with  blood ;  wild  shrieks  rise 
high  above  the  uproar — Jerusalem  has  fallen.  It  had  been 
JVIelchizedek's  citadel  and  David's  capital — the  place  of 
sacrifice  and  worship — the  scene  of  the  national  gatherings 
at  the  Passover  and  Pentecost — and  the  dwelling-place  of 
the  ark  and  the  cherubim.  But  its  reverses  had  been  as 
marked  as  its  glories.  Shishak  and  his  bands  from  the 
Nile  had  sacked  it ;  Arabians  and  Assyrians  had  captured 
and  plundered  it ;  Necho  and  his  Egyptian  legions  had 
levied  contributions  from  it ;  Sennacherib  had  invested  it, 
but  was  utterly  smitten  by  its  guardian  angel ;  Nebuchad- 
nezzar had  left  it  a  heap  of  stones  and  dust,  but  it  had  been 
rebuilt;  Alexander  of  Macedon  had  approached  it  with  hostile 
intentions,  but  spared  and  honoured  it ;  Ptolemy  of  Egypt 
ruthlessly  spoiled  it ;  Antiochus  Epiphanes  ravaged  it  with 
characteristic  ferocity;  the  Maccabean  chieftains  restored 


382  PAUL  AT  CESAREA. 

and  purified  it ;  Herod  adorned  and  beautified  it — but  its 
days  were  numbered,  and  in  a  brief  period  it  became  a 
mass  of  ruins,  and  yet  is  "  trodden  down  of  the  Gentiles." 
But  as  the  apostle  went  out  of  it  for  the  last  time,  he 
could  not  but  feel  the  power  of  early  associations ;  not 
only  the  memories  of  old  historic  times — of  Solomon's 
glory,  Hezekiah's  revival,  and  Ezra's  patriotic  enterprise — 
but  also  of  more  recent  events  which  had  hallowed  Siloam 
and  Gethsemane,  and  shed  an  undying  lustre  on  Calvary 
and  the  Mount  of  Olives. 

Along  with  the  prisoner  Lysias  sends  a  despatch  to 
Felix  the  governor.  The  despatch  states  the  case  with 
truth  in  its  general  features,  but  in  such  a  way  as  to  pro- 
duce the  impression  that  the  tribune  had  done  his  duty 
from  another  motive  than  the  real  one.  He  writes — "This 
man  was  taken  of  the  Jews,  and  should  have  been  killed 
of  them :  then  came  I  with  an  army,  and  rescued  him, 
having  understood  that  he  was  a  Koman."  But  it  was 
not  true  that  he  had  rescued  him  from  the  knowledge  that 
he  was  a  Eoman  citizen;  for  he  was  not  aware  of  this 
fact  till  after  the  capture,  and  when  he  was  about  to  do 
him  the  worst  of  all  indignities — to  scourge  him.  But 
the  credit  which  he  so  adroitly  takes  to  himself  verifies 
the  document  as  the  report  of  a  Roman  officer  who  wishes 
to  stand  well  with  his  superior.  Felix,  on  receiving  the 
letter,  asked  of  what  province  he  was ;  and  when  he  under- 
stood that  he  was  of  Cilicia — "  I  will  hear  thee,  said  he, 
when  thine  accusers  are  also  come.  And  he  commanded 
him  to  be  kept  in  Herod's  judgment-hall." 

After  five  days  Ananias  the  high  priest  and  the  elders 


TERTULLUS. 

came  to  Cesarea,  and  along  with  them  a  certain  orator — a 
professional  pleader,  who  was  to  lay  the  charges  against 
Paul  before  the  governor.  The  trial  began,  and  Tertullus 
set  forth  the  various  points  of  accusation — unsparing  in 
his  invective,  throwing  out  insinuations  against  Lysias  the 
chief  captain,  and  screening  the  Jews  from  blame.  But 
the  orator  told  a  falsehood  when  he  said — "  Whom  we  took 
and  would  have  judged  according  to  our  law;"  for  the 
mob  would  have  put  the  apostle  to  death  without  any  trial, 
had  the  chief  captain  not  prevented  them.  But  Tertullus 
represents  him  as  impeding  "  by  great  violence"  an  ordi- 
nary process  of  Jewish  law.  The  charges  against  Paul 
were  artfully  laid  by  a  forensic  debater,  "and  the  Jews 
also  assented,  saying  that  these  things  were  so." 

The  prisoner  at  the  bar  had  no  counsel — had  the  benefit 
of  no  professional  skill — but  rose  to  reply  for  himself 
when  the  governor  beckoned  to  him.  His  answer  is  a 
plain  statement  of  facts.  He  had  heard  the  charges,  and 
he  calmly  refutes  them,  count  by  count — showing  the  im- 
possibility of  some  of  them,  and  the  absurdity  of  others. 
He  began  by  the  usual  complimentary  appeal — not  false 
and  fulsome,  as  that  of  Tertullus,  but  one  that  only  spoke 
the  truth — referring  to  the  long  period  of  six  years  during 
which  Felix  had  been  governor,  and  the  consequent  know- 
ledge which  he  must  have  acquired  of  Jewish  character 
and  customs.  He  then  refers  to  the  knowledge  which 
Felix  could  easily  obtain  as  to  his  actings  since  he  had 
come  into  Palestine.  His  whole  conduct  during  that  brief 
period  could  bear  the  closest  inspection — "  Because  that 
thou  mayest  understand,  that  there  are  yet  but  twelve 


384  PAUL  AT   CESAREA. 

days  since  I  went  up  to  Jerusalem  for  to  worship.  And 
they  neither  found  me  in  the  temple  disputing  with  any 
man,  neither  raising  up  the  people,  neither  in  the  syna- 
gogues, nor  in  the  city :  neither  can  they  prove  the  things 
whereof  they  now  accuse  me."  Those  twelve  days  have 
been  variously  counted,  but  may  be  thus  given — first  day, 
his  arrival ;  the  second,  his  interview  with  James ;  the 
third,  his  assumption  of  the  vow;  the  fourth,  fifth,  and 
sixth,  its  continuance ;  the  seventh,  his  apprehension ;  the 
eighth,  his  appearance  before  the  council ;  the  ninth,  his 
nocturnal  departure  for  Cesarea ;  the  tenth,  eleventh,  and 
twelfth,  at  Cesarea ;  the  thirteenth,  being  the  day  of  the 
trial,  for  five  days  after  his  departure  from  Jerusalem, 
Ananias  came  down  to  Cesarea. 

During  this  interval,  the  apostle  did  none  of  the  things 
with  which  he  was  charged.  He  entered  into  no  disputes, 
and  addressed  no  popular  assembly,  in  any  supposable 
place,  for  he  was  under  a  vow.  Not  only  had  he  not  com- 
mitted those  misdemeanours,  but  he  had  not  even  had  the 
requisite  opportunity.  Therefore  he  'defied  them  to  the 
proof.  Their  allegations  against  him  were  baseless.  He 
was  no  pest,  and  no  mover  of  sedition.  Nay,  he  goes  on 
to  affirm  that  he  was  a  better  or  more  consistent  Jew  than 
his  accusers.  "  But  this  I  confess  unto  thee,  that  after  the 
way  which  they  call  heresy,  so  worship  I  the  God  of  my 
fathers,  believing  all  things  which  are  written  in  the  law 
and  in  the  prophets."  He  does  not  deny  his  Christianity; 
and  he  admits  that  they  called  it  heresy  or  schism,  as 
Tertullus  had  already  said.  This  portion  of  the  accusa- 
tion was  true,  but  far  from  true  in  their  sense.  He  adored 


THE  APOSTLE  NO  RENEGADE.  385 

no  new  God,  he  still  worshipped  the  paternal  God — using 
a  classic  epithet  of  special  significance  before  a  Roman 
judge.     The  Roman  law  allowed  this  toleration  to  the  Jew, 
and  the  apostle  claimed  its  protection.    None  other  God  than 
the  national  God — the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob 
— the  God  who  had  done  such  wonders  for  them,  and  for 
whose  service  that  temple   had  been  erected — the  God 
owned  by  the  nation,  and  still  standing  in  a  covenant 
relationship  to  it — none  other  God  did  the  apostle  acknow- 
ledge, worship,  or  preach.     He  was  therefore  no  apostate 
or  innovator — no  setter  forth  of  strange  divinities.     Nay 
more,  he  worshipped  the  God  whom  his  nation  had  always 
worshipped,  in  the  way  which  Himself  had  prescribed,  for 
he  was  "  believing  all  things  which  are  written  in  the  law 
and  in  the  prophets."     He  honoured  God  by  crediting  His 
oracles.     He  would  not  discredit  Jehovah  by  denying  His 
revelations.     It  was  his  pure  and  comprehensive  faith  in 
the  Old  Testament  that  made  him  what  he  was.     He  held 
by  the  national  creed  as  well  as  by  the  national  God.     He 
had  virtually  uttered  the  same  sentiment  before — maintain- 
ing, that  when  he  became  a  Christian,  he  had  not  ceased 
to  be  a  Jew ;  nay,  that  the  only  consistent  Jew  is  he  who 
becomes  a  disciple  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth — of  Him  of  whom 
the  law,  the  prophets,  and  the  psalms,  are  so  full — and 
follows  out  the  teaching  and  predictions  of  Moses  and  his 
inspired  successors.     Had  not  he  believed  the  Old  Testa- 
ment foreshowing  Christ,  he  had  never  been  a  Christian 
believing  in  Christ.     Warned  by  God  of  a  Christ  to  come, 
he  simply  accepted  Him  when  He  had  come  at  the  time 
and  in  the  place  predicted :  so  that  he  held  by  the  national 

2B 


386  PAUL  AT  CESAKEA. 

faith  more  intelligently,  honestly,  and  piously  than  did  his 
accusers.  He  had  done  nothing  that  they  were  not  bound 
to  do,  if  they  would  only  obey  the  God  of  their  fathers 
"with  a  perfect  heart,  and  with  a  willing  mind."  He 
believed  that  God  had  been  true  to  His  promises,  but  they 
did  not.  He  believed  that  God  had  sent  the  great  Deliverer 
at  the  period  predicted,  but  they  did  not. 

He  subjoins  farther — "  And  have  hope  toward  God, 
which  they  themselves  also  allow,  that  there  shall  be  a 
resurrection  of  the  dead,  both  of  the  just  and  unjust."  He 
and  they  had  the  very  same  hope.  They  were  at  one  in 
acknowledging  the  same  God,  and  the  same  scriptures,  and 
they  had  also  the  same  hope  for  futurity.  That  hope  is 
the  hope  of  a  resurrection,  or  what  he  had  already  expressed 
in  his  address  before  the  sanhedrim,  but  always  connected 
in  his  mind  with  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  as  its  pledge  and 
pattern.  The  Pharisees,  and  indeed  the  nation  generally, 
held  this  view — the  Sadducees  being  always  a  minority. 
Having  this  great  similarity  of  faith  with  his  nation,  he 
differed  only  in  this — that  he  believed  God  had  verified 
his  oft-given  pledge  to  them,  and  held  that  this  belief,  "  the 
way  which  they  called  heresy,"  was  yet  the  highest  homage 
to  the  God  of  truth.  Then  he  repeats  the  sentiment,  for  the 
utterance  of  which  before  the  Jewish  council  Ananias  had 
commanded  him  to  be  smitten  on  the  mouth.  "  And 
herein  do  I  exercise  myself  to  have  always  a  conscience 
void  of  offence  toward  God  and  toward  men."  That  is — 
in  consequence  of  this  belief — my  worship  of  my  fathers' 
God,  my  faith  in  the  law  and  the  prophets,  and  my  hope 
of  a  resurrection — I  discipline  myself  so  as  to  have  and  to 


A  GOOD  CONSCIENCE.  387 

hold  an  offenceless  conscience  in  every  way  toward  God 
and  toward  men.  I  have  nothing  to  charge  against  myself. 
I  have  uniformly  followed  conviction.  In  becoming  a 
Christian,  I  have  obeyed  God;  and  since  I  became  a 
Christian,  I  have  acted  toward  men  honestly — not  stirring 
up  strife  unnecessarily,  but  labouring  to  bring  them  to  the 
same  belief.  He  had  not  been  a  pest,  though  he  strove  to 
disseminate  his  views  ;  nor  yet  a  mover  of  sedition,  though 
his  enemies  had  broken  the  peace  and  tried  to  inculpate 
him.  No,  he  was  a  consistent  member  of  the  theocracy, 
and  the  gospel  which  he  had  espoused  and  preached  was 
only  its  fruit  and  fulfilment.  He  had  simply  followed 
whither  God  had  pointed,  and  his  conscience  was  void  of 
offence  toward  Him ;  and  as  he  had  striven  to  make  his 
countrymen  think  with  himself,  had  taught  them  no  error 
nor  asked  them  to  forsake  Jehovah,  their  fathers'  God,  so 
his  conscience  was  void  of  offence  also  toward  men.  And 
this  was  a  perpetual  work  with  him,  no  periodical  task,  or 
detached  effort  of  casuistry — "  I  exercise  myself,"  I  put  it 
before  me  as  an  aim,  and  ever  nerve  myself  to  realize  it. 
His  ends  were  not  his  own — he  obeyed  God,  and  served 
man. 

The  apostle  now  comes  to  the  special  charge  which  had 
led  to  his  apprehension — "  Now,  after  many  years,  I  came 
to  bring  alms  to  my  nation,  and  offerings."  Several  years 
had  elapsed — four,  or  it  may  be  five — since  his  last  visit 
to  the  capital.  But  he  had  not  come  as  a  sower  of  sedition. 
He  has  said  already  that  he  came  to  worship,  and  he  adds 
more  precisely  as  to  the  purpose  of  his  journey,  that  he 
came  to  bring  alms  to  his  nation,  and  offerings.  He 


388  PAUL  AT  CESAREA. 

does  not  mean  that  he  brought  the  offerings  in  the  same 
sense  as  he  brought  the  alms.  The  offerings  were  those 
made  in  the  temple  in  connection  with  the  vow  which  he 
had  taken  upon  himself,  and  with  the  purification  of  the 
Nazarites,  whose  expenses,  at  the  suggestion  of  James,  he 
had  engaged  to  defray,  perhaps  out  of  the  same  fund  which 
had  been  collected  among  the  foreign  churches.  The 
offerings  are  introduced  also  as  a  kind  of  afterthought. 
No  mention  is  made  in  the  history  of  the  alms  and  offer- 
ings, but  there  are  many  references  in  the  epistles — 
Kom.  xv.  25,  26;  1  Cor.  xvi.  1 — 4;  2  Cor.  viii.  1 — 4;  and 
this  is  one  of  those  undesigned  coincidences  which  attest 
the  credibility  of  the  New  Testament.  His  object  was  to 
bring  alms  to  the  poor,  but  he  also  presented  offerings  in 
the  temple.  How  could  he  then  be  accused  of  disloyalty 
or  irreligion  when  he  had  so  sedulously  gathered  alms  for 
his  poorer  brethren,  and  when  he  frequented  the  temple 
and  engaged  in  its  most  solemn  acts  of  devotion  ?  He 
thus  boldly,  and  by  a  bare  statement  of  facts,  disposes  of 
the  allegations  made  against  him.  How  the  disturbance 
which  had  involved  him  came  to  be  made  he  next  states — 
"Whereupon  certain  Jews  from  Asia  found  me  purified 
in  the  temple,  neither  with  multitude,  nor  with  tumult." 
"Whereupon"  is  literally — "  in  which,"  or  "  amid  which  " 
occupations  showing  my  love  to  my  nation,  and  my  fidelity 
to  the  law.  The  verse  is  variously  read.  Literally  it  is, 
"  In  the  midst  of  which  they  found  me  purified  in  the 
temple,  neither  with  multitude  nor  uproar,  but  certain 
Jews  from  Asia" — gathered  the  crowd  and  made  the 
tumult. 


THE  BASELESSNESS  OF  THE  PROSECUTION.  389 

The  apostle  was  in  the  temple,  a  devout  conscientious 
Jew,  and,  so  far  from  being  disorderly,  he  was  found 
"  neither  with  multitude,  nor  with  tumult."  He  had 
caused  no  disturbance  and  gathered  no  crowd,  but,  as 
quietly  and  devoutly  as  the  throng  of  worshippers  around 
him,  he  had  entered  into  the  ceremonial  service.  The 
Jews  from  Asia  were  from  Ephesus,  and  had  known  him 
there.  They  surmised  that  he  had  brought  Trophimus 
into  the  temple  and  profaned  it,  and  raised  an  immediate 
alarm  and  outcry — no  difficult  thing  amidst  the  crowds 
assembled  at  Pentecost.  He  had  not  been  seized  by  any 
officers  of  the  law  on  any  definite  charge  which  might 
be  substantiated  by  legal  evidence,  but  he  had  been  set 
upon  by  a  disorderly  mob.  Besides,  the  very  persons 
who  made  the  accusation,  and  "  shouted — Men  of  Israel, 
help!"  should  have  been  produced  in  evidence  against 
him,  or,  as  he  says,  "Who  ought  to  have  been  here 
before  thee,  and  object,  if  they  had  ought  against  me." 
This  statement  is  a  legitimate  objection  to  the  entire 
proceeding.  Where  were  the  witnesses?  What  could 
they  depone  ?  Ananias  and  the  deputation  from  the  san- 
hedrim could  bear  no  witness,  for  their  witness  was  but 
hearsay.  The  Ephesian  Jews  were  the  proper  parties  to 
hear,  if  they  had  ought  against  him.  But  they  were  not 
brought  forward.  The  conclusion  the  apostle  comes  to  is, 
that  without  these  there  could  be  no  case  against  him. 
Why  should  a  man  be  prosecuted  in  absence  of  all  the 
principal  witnesses  ? 

The  prisoner  makes  another  appeal  to  his  very  enemies 
— "Or  else  let  these  same  here  say  if  they  have  found 


390  PAUL  AT   CESAREA. 

any  evil-doing  in  me,  while  I  stood  before  the  council, 
except  it  be  for  this  one  voice,  that  I  cried  standing 
among  them,  Touching  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  I  am 
called  in  question  by  you  this  day."  If  the  Ephesian 
Jews  cannot  be  brought  into  court,  let  the  men  who 
had  come  to  Cesarea  and  now  accused  him — let  them 
tell  what  they  knew  against  him.  They  could,  indeed, 
depone  nothing  as  to  the  original  charge,  but  let  them  say 
what  crime  they  found  in  him  when  under  their  own  cog- 
nizance. Nothing  could  they  allege  except  this  one  voice, 
the  bold  statement  he  had  made  at  their  tribunal.  The 
inference  is,  that  this  saying  can  surely  be  no  sufficient 
foundation  for  a  charge,  for  it  was  only  the  utterance  of  a 
faith  held  by  the  people  as  a  body.  The  repetition  of  the 
sentiment  shows  that  the  apostle  was  not  ashamed  of  it, 
that  he  sought  not  to  conceal  it,  but  gloried  in  it,  as 
showing  his  own  consistency  as  a  Hebrew  disciple,  and  as 
disproving  the  accusations  of  religious  disaffection  and  anti- 
national  feelings  and  deeds  which  were  so  rifely  brought 
against  him. 

Such  is  the  brief  report  of  the  apostle's  reply.  It  deals 
in  no  generalities.  It  is  no  laboured  response,  artful  in 
its  statements,  bringing  into  bold  relief  what  was  for  him, 
and  throwing  into  shadow  what  might  tell  against  him ; 
pressing  into  his  service  a  variety  of  subsidiary  arguments ; 
making  strong  protestations  of  innocence,  with  magnificent 
disclaimers  of  all  animosity,  and  of  all  intention  to  create 
tumult.  But  it  is  a  bare  statement  of  facts,  so  clearly  and 
succinctly  put,  that  none  but  a  man  of  conscious  innocence 
could  have  spoken  it.  He  invites  examination,  and 


THE   DECISION   OF   FELIX.  391 

appeals  to  the  means  of  conducting  it.  He  holds  that  his 
original  accusers  should  have  been  cited,  and  he  appeals  to 
the  members  of  the  sanhedrim  as  to  his  conduct  when 
before  them.  The  majesty  of  the  Eoman  law,  allowing 
him  to  finish  his  reply  without  interruption,  presents  a 
striking  contrast  to  the  rude  and  unmannerly  exhibition  of 
temper  in  the  Jewish  council.  Anarchy  is  worse  than 
tyranny,  and  Caesar's  sword  was  less  to  be  dreaded  than 
the  daggers  of  the  zealots. 

The  apostle's  address  produced  some  effect  on  Felix — 
"  And  when  Felix  heard  these  things,  having  more  perfect 
knowledge  of  that  way,  he  deferred  them,  and  said,  When 
Lysias  the  chief  captain  shall  come  down,  I  will  know  the 
uttermost  of  your  matter.'7  This  rendering  is  correct. 
The  phrase,  "having  more  perfect  knowledge"  of  that 
way,  does  not  mean  that  the  knowledge  of  Felix  -was 
made  more  perfect  from  Paul's  address,  but  that  from  his 
position  and  long  experience  he  had  a  knowledge  of 
Christianity  not  usually  found  in  his  rank  and  station. 
From  his  better  information  of  that  way — of  Christianity — 
he  saw  the  hollowness  of  the  accusation,  and  ought  at 
once  to  have  acquitted  the  apostle.  But  a  man  of  his 
character  was  afraid  to  offend  the  Jews,  and  therefore  he 
adjourned  the  diet,  on  the  pretext  of  waiting  till  Lysias, 
so  much  implicated  in  the  matter,  should  come  down  to 
Cesarea.  The  real  motive,  however,  appears  to  have  been 
what  is  afterwards  stated — the  expectation  of  being  bribed 
by  the  prisoner  to  grant  his  release. 

But  the  main  point  is  gained.  The  high  priest  and 
elders  were  evidently  veiy  wishful  to  have  Paul  under 


392  PAUL  AT   CESAREA. 

their  own  jurisdiction,  and  Tertullus  blames  Lysias  for  his 
interference,  while  he  also  hints  at  the  inconvenience  of 
being  forced  to  come  to  Cesarea  and  conduct  the  trial. 
But  Paul  is  detained  at  Cesarea,  safe  from  Jewish  malice 
— from  mobs  and  conspirators.  During  his  detention  he 
is  kept  in  "  free  custody,"  not  confined  to  a  prison,  but 
under  charge  of  a  centurion,  who  "  should  forbid  none  of 
his  acquaintance  to  minister  or  come  unto  him."  Of  these 
there  might  be  not  a  few  in  Cesarea,  Agabus  and  his  four 
daughters,  as  well  as  Aristarchus  and  Luke. 


PAUL  AT  CESAEEA.  393 


a 

BEFORE    FELIX   AND   DRUSILLA. 
ACTS  XXIV.  24 — 27. 

The  baffled  accusers  of  the  apostle  returned  to  Jerusalem. 
Their  prey  had  escaped ;  nay,  as  was  very  strange,  Cassar 
had  delivered  him  from  a  successor  of  Aaron.  The  affair 
must  have  excited  some  commotion,  and  Felix  must  have 
talked  of  it  to  Drusilla.  The  curiosity  of  the  young  and 
beautiful  Jewess  was  excited,  and  "after  certain  days" 
Paul  was  sent  for  by  the  governor  to  gratify  himself  and 
his  wife.  The  character  of  both  was  notorious.  As  a 
prefect  Felix  was  rapacious  and  dishonourable,  though 
not  without  energy  in  repressing  disorders.  Brought  to 
Rome  as  a  slave,  he  became  a  freedman  of  Claudius,  and 
crept  up,  through  meanness  and  unscrupulous  subservience, 
to  the  position  he  filled.  His  brother  Pallas  and  him- 
self had  been  flagitious  plunderers  of  the  public  exchequer. 
Booty  and  bribery  he  took  in  every  form  during  his 
government  of  Judea.  Several  worthy  priests,  friends  of 
Josephus,  he  imprisoned  for  a  frivolous  reason,  and  sent 
them  to  Home ;  nay,  by  means  of  hired  assassins  he 
secured  the  death  of  Jonathan  the  pontiff,  who  had  been 
so  honest  and  patriotic  as  to  expostulate  with  him  on  his 
misgovernment.  During  his  procuratorship,  the  Jewish 
historian  says,  "he  saw  Drusilla;  and  being  captivated 
with  her  beauty,  persuaded  her  to  desert  her  husband, 


394  PAUL  AT   CESAEEA. 

transgress  the  laws  of  her  country,  and  marry  himself." 
Drusilla  was  the  youngest  daughter  of  Herod  Agrippa  I. — 
the  Herod  who  killed  James,  and  soon  after  died  at  Cesarea, 
"  eaten  up  of  worms."  She  was  betrothed  at  her  father's 
death,  and  when  she  was  only  six  years  old,  to  Epiphanes, 
prince  of  Commagene;  but  on  his  refusal  to  submit  to  cir- 
cumcision and  become  a  Jew,  as  an  indispensable  condition 
of  the  nuptials,  she  was  married  to  Azizus,  king  of  Emesa, 
from  whom  Felix,  aided  by  a  sorcerer  named  Simon,  from 
Cyprus,  induced  her  to  elope.  Herself  and  her  son  by 
this  union  perished  during  an  eruption  of  Vesuvius  in  the 
reign  of  the  Emperor  Titus. 

Felix  and  Drusilla  being  seated  in  pomp,  the  prisoner 
was  introduced  and  asked  to  discourse  "concerning  the 
faith  in  Christ" — in  that  Messiah  which  the  Jewish  books 
foretold,  and  of  whom  Drusilla,  as  a  Jewess,  must  have  often 
heard,  both  as  the  hope  of  the  nation,  and  as  being  identi- 
fied by  many  with  the  child  whose  birth  had  so  alarmed 
her  great-grandfather,  that  he  slew  the  babes  in  Bethlehem ; 
whose  herald's  fidelity  had  so  enraged  her  grand-uncle  that 
he  beheaded  him  for  Herodias'  sake ;  and  the  progress  of 
whose  religion  had  provoked  her  father  to  "kill  James,  the 
brother  of  John,  with  the  sword."  The  topics  on  which  the 
apostle  discoursed  were  connected  with  the  "faith  in  Christ." 
You  cannot  suppose  him  to  entertain  his  august  auditors 
with  mere  ethical  discussions,  when  they  wished  him  to 
speak  of  his  theology;  for  he  well  knew  that  no  virtue 
can  be  truly  practised  without  a  sufficient  motive,  and  that 
this  ruling  power  in  the  soul  must  be  its  love  to  Christ  ; 
nay,  that  the  soul  must  escape  danger  through  faith  in  the 


RIGHTEOUSNESS.  395 

Saviour  ere  it  can  possess  righteousness  or  exercise  tem- 
perance or  self-command.  Righteousness  and  temperance 
were,  therefore,  discussed  and  enforced  not  with  the  specu- 
lation of  a  philosopher,  but  with  the  directness  and  power 
of  an  apostle.  What  faith  in  Jesus  is,  he  must  have  told 
them — what  it  implied,  and  on  what  foundation  it  rested  ; 
what  blessings  spring  out  of  it,  and  what  a  profound  and 
happy  change  it  works  on  the  heart  and  character.  Before 
Brasilia  he  must  have  adduced  the  proofs  of  the  Messiah- 
ship,  as  she  still  held  by  the  national  faith ;  and  before 
Felix  and  her  he  could  not  but  expatiate  on  some  elements 
of  that  holiness  which  the  gospel  inculcates  and  the  Lord 
Jesus  had  exemplified.  Those  elements  referred  to  are 
selected  by  the  historian,  probably  because  they  bore  so 
directly  on  the  conscience  of  the  guilty  pair  to  whom  the 
prisoner  delivered  the  requested  sermon. 

He  discoursed  on  righteousness — not  as  the  means  of  justi- 
fication, but  as  the  result  of  sanctifying  influence ;  not  merely 
the  equity,  which  a  judge  like  Felix  should  display,  but  that 
rectitude  which  underlies  the  entire  code  of  morality — that 
sense  of  duty  which  leads  a  man  to  be  what  he  ought  to  be, 
and  to  do  what  he  ought  to  do  to  all  around  him  and  on  all 
occasions.  Such  integrity  springs  from  that  love  which  is 
the  fulfilment  of  the  law.  It  will  not  only  not  injure,  but 
it  will  also  benefit  j  for  this  is  a  duty.  It  will  not  merely 
abstain  from  wrong,  but  it  will  rejoice  to  impart  good ;  for 
this  is  right.  It  is  benevolence  expressed  under  the  form  of 
right,  and  conditioned  by  human  relationship.  Let  us  pic- 
ture such  a  man  acting  under  law  to  Christ.  Should  a  wild 
beast  be  found  in  his  property,  he  will  not  merely  drive  it 


396  PAUL  AT  CESAREA. 

out  of  his  own  domain,  heedless  of  the  ravages  it  may  com- 
mit on  his  neighbour;  a  farther  duty  is  demanded.  In  any 
scene  of  general  danger  and  loss,  he  will  not  simply  look  after 
himself  and  secure  himself  against  harm ;  something  more 
is  laid  upon  him.  If  he  can  in  any  way  benefit  another, 
he  cannot  refrain  from  doing  it,  either  by  a  kind  sugges- 
tion, a  word  of  warning,  or  a  deed  of  beneficence ;  and  all 
the  while  he  feels  that  he  is  but  doing  what  is  incumbent 
on  him.  This  generosity  is  not  something  which  he  can 
dispense  with,  or  indulge  in  as  he  pleases ;  it  ever  shapes 
itself  into  the  form  of  a  righteous  obligation.  He  must  do 
it ;  it  is  an  element  of  duty,  of  righteousness — of  equity 
robed  in  love.  The  apostle  dwelt  on  this  in  its  connection 
with  faith  in  Christ ;  for  He  has  enjoined  it,  and  has  shown 
in  Himself  what  it  is.  And  it  must  have  struck  the  mind 
of  him  of  whom  the  great  Koman  painter  of  character  says 
— "  that  he  thought  himself  licensed  to  do  all  crimes  with 
impunity."  The  idea  of  obligation  had  neither  power  nor 
existence  within  him;  duty  was  a  term  foreign  to  his 
depraved  nature,  which  sought  immediate  gratification  at  all 
hazards,  and  cared  for  nothing  else.  The  great  master  just 
referred  to  depicts  him  in  another  of  his  inimitable  strokes, 
as  one  "who  through  every  extent  of  ferocity  and  lust, 
exercised  the  power  of  a  king  with  the  soul  of  a  slave." 
No  wonder  that  such  a  man  as  he,  when  he  saw  himself 
read  so  thoroughly  and  all  his  turpitude  exposed,  winced, 
and  was  startled  under  the  calm  gaze  and  searching  ser- 
mon of  his  prisoner. 

The   apostle    discoursed  on   temperance — self-restraint 
generally,  but  with  special  reference  to  continence ;  the 


TEMPERANCE.  397 

command  of  appetite,  and  particularly  of  such  appetites  as 
are  indulged  among  men  without  restraint  and  without  loss 
of  social  position.  For  a  higher  motive  should  act  than  the 
fear  of  man  or  respect  of  caste — every  motive  which  reason 
urges  and  revelation  hallows — honour,  his  own  dignity, 
regard  to  the  end  for  which  God  has  made  him,  homage  to 
the  law  under  which  he  is  placed  in  prospect  of  the  judg- 
ment he  is  soon  to  undergo,  and  in  imitation  of  that  pure 
and  perfect  example  which  the  Divine  Model  has  set  before 
him.  How  a  man  degrades  himself  and  deletes  the  image 
of  God  within  him  when  he  dethrones  his  mind  and  con- 
science, is  chafed  into  a  demon  or  degraded  to  a  brute, 
takes  the  bridle  off  his  tongue  or  power  of  locomotion  from 
his  limbs,  by  excessive  indulgence  in  stimulants.  How  far 
and  how  ignominiously  he  falls  from  the  chief  end,  when 
he  lives  "  in  chambering  and  wantonness,"  glories  in  his 
shame,  has  no  object  but  enjoyment,  and,  living  in  pleasure, 
is  dead  while  he  liveth.  For  when  impurity — 

"  by  lewd  and  lowest  arts  of  sin, 
Lets  in  defilement  to  the  inward  parts, 
The  soul  grows  clotted  by  contagion, 
Imbodies  and  imbrutes,  till  she  quite  lose 
The  divine  property  of  her  first  being." 

Is  not  the  social  evil  of  great  cities  a  reproach  to  civiliza- 
tion and  Christianity?  character,  modesty,  health,  and 
happiness  being  all  forfeited  by  criminal  indulgences :  for, 
when  night 

"  Darkens  the  streets,  then  wander  forth  the  sons 
Of  Belial,  flown  with  insolence  and  wine ; " 

and  the  "  lips  of  the  strange  woman,"  who  prowls  about, 


398  PAUL  AT  CESAREA. 

tl  drop  as  an  honeycomb,  and  her  mouth  is  smoother  than 
oil,  but  her  end  is  bitter  as  wormwood."  Felix,  as  we 
have  said,  had  seen  Drusilla  during  his  procuratorship  in 
Judea,  and  had  seduced  her  from  her  husband.  The  victim 
of  his  libertinism  was  by  his  side  when  the  apostle  thus 
reasoned.  In  fact,  Felix,  though  imported  into  Italy  as  a 
slave,  was  "  husband  of  three  queens,"  as  a  Latin  biographer 
calls  him,  soaring  high,  and  being  successful,  too,  in  his 
amours.  The  words  of  the  apostle  may  have  only  affronted 
the  adulteress,  but  they  shook  her  paramour. 

Aa&  judgment  to  come  was  another  topic  more  awful  still 
which  rung  through  that  hall.     Felix  had  no  creed — was 
not  even  fortified  by  stoical  pride.     He  took  "  the  good 
the  gods  provide,"  with  no  thought  for  the  morrow,  save  for 
further  indulgence.     The  earnestness  of  the  apostle  must 
,'  have  impressed  him — the  conviction  that  he  believed  all  that 
I  he  spoke  with  such  startling  energy.     As  he  reasoned  of  a 
\future  judgment  he  must  have  showed  the  grounds  of  it,  and 
(proved  its  certainty ;  lie  must  have  told  what  it  was — a  per- 
fect inspection  of  man's  whole  character  by  Him  who  knows 
us  altogether — not  our  life  only,  but  ourselves — not  action, 
but  heart  with  all  its  passions  and  purposes;  by  Him  who,  as 
He  knows  us  with  infallible  accuracy,  will  pronounce  upon 
us  with  unimpeachable  equity.     No  subterfuge  can  avail ; 
the  soul  is  laid  open  to  its  core,  and  all  that  it  ever  thought, 
felt,  or  purposed  is  read  under  the  eye  of  Omniscience.     It 
feels  its  doom,  if  it  be  impenitent,  ere  the  Judge  pronounce 
it ;  and  He  who  is  love,  who  died  in  pity  and  reigns  in 
\  grace,  shall  speak  in  thunder  and  in  sorrow,  and  his  words 
1  are  all  the  more  thrilling  that  they  come  from  the  lips  of  Him 


JUDGMENT  TO  COME.  399 

who  is  Saviour,  and  was  willing  to  save  even  those  whom 
He  condemns.  "  Depart  from  Me,"  and  He  is  the  source 
of  all  nobleness  and  felicity.  He  had  often  bidden  them 
>  come ;  had  opened  His  bosom — the  bosom  pierced  with  a 
spear ;  and  stretched  out  His  arms — the  arms  nailed  to  the 
cross,  and  implored  them  with  tears  to  come ;  had  wrestled 
with  them  by  His  Providence,  His  Word,  and  His  Spirit ; 
had  argued  and  threatened  ;  had  invited  and  allured ;  and 
all  that  they  might  come.  But  they  would  not  come ;  and 
the  righteous  sentence  is — "  Depart  from  Me."  "  Cursed" 
they  are ;  for  they  have  forfeited  mercy,  and  brought  down 
upon  themselves  an  indescribable  penalty.  The  "fire"  into 
which  they  are  exiled  for  ever  was  not  originally  kindled 
for  them,  but  "for  the  devil  and  his  angels,"  with  whom 
they  have  allied  themselves  in  guilt,  and  under  whose 
temptations  they  have  irretrievably  fallen.  Oh,  can  it  be 
that  any  one  with  the  knowledge  of  such  a  hazard — any 
one  able  to  realize  it — will  yet  incur  it  by  wayward  and 
incorrigible  unbelief.  God  of  his  infinite  mercy  forbid! 
But  the  crisis  of  destiny  will  come,  and  it  is  right  that  it 
should  come.  Reason  acquiesces  in  the  thought — "  Know 
thou  that  for  all  these  things  God  will  bring  thee  into 
judgment ;"  yea,  "  God  shall  bring  every  work  into  judg- 
ment, with  every  secret  thing,  whether  it  be  good  or 
whether  it  be  evil."  And  the  prisoner  must  have  told  his 
judge  of  the  glory  of  that  higher  tribunal  before  which  even 
he  must  stand  and  give  account;  that  the  man  Jesus  is 
Judge ;  that  His  majesty  shall  eclipse  the  sun,  for  before  it 
the  earth  and  the  heaven  shall  flee  away ;  that  the  resur- 
rection precedes  the  judgment,  and  that  they  who  "  sleep 


400  PAUL  AT   CESAREA. 

in  the  dust  of  the  earth  shall  awake,  some  to  everlasting 
life,  and  some  to  shame  and  everlasting  contempt." 
I  The  voluptuary  was  deeply  moved  by  the  picture  so 
/  vividly  presented  to  him.  Hi& -past_history.jCQuldjoDt  bear 
\inspection.  He  was  conscious  that  he  was  guilty,  that  his 
life  had  been  stained  by  knavery  and  blood,  by  cruelty  and 
profligacy,  by  practices,  at  some  of  which  humanity  blushes, 
jpid  others  of  which  it  scorns  and  reprobates.  He  felt  that 
he  would  be  loathed  and  execrated  if  men  knew  all  of 
/  him,  and  what  then  should  he  answer  before  God  ?  The 
prospect  of  being  judged — inspected  by  an  Omniscient  eye 
from  which  no  vail  could  screen,  and  judged  by  an  impar- 
tial Arbiter  whom  no  pretext  could  deceive — filled  him  with 
alarm.  The  scene  impressed  him,  he  partially  realized  it, 
felt  himself  in  the  presence  and  under  the  glance  of  the 
Searcher  of  hearts,  and  he  trembled— becoming  afraid  or 
seized  with  a  panic;  and  he  replied — "Go  thy  way  for  this 
time."  If  he  was  anxious  to  hear  him  begin,  he  was  as 
anxious  that  he  should  close.  He  could  not  bear  this 
dissection  of  his  character  and  motives — this  allusion  to  a 
coming  judgment.  He  was  wholly  unprepared  for  such  an 
appeal,  for  he  was  but  an  illiterate  and  sceptical  libertine, 
and  his  shallow  nature  vibrated  with  the  impulse  of  the 
moment.  Like  many  men  of  sensual  depravity,  he  was  far 
from  being  pleased  with  himself.  Amidst  all  his  success 
and  splendour,  twinges  of  uneasiness  may  have  often  shaken 
his  conscience — the  fate  of  many  dashing  profligates — 

"  As  a  beam  o'er  the  face  of  the  waters  may  glow, 
While  the  tide  runs  in  darkness  and  coldness  below, 
So  the  cheek  may  be  tinged  with  a  warm  sunny  smile, 
Though  the  cold  heart  to  ruin  runs  darkly  the  while." 


THE  CONVENIENT  SEASON.  401 

But  the  impression  made  upon  Felix  was  soon  charmed 
away.  Depart,  said  he  to  the  prisoner,  but  in  courtesy  he 
added — "When  I  have  a  convenient  season,  I  will  call 
for  thee  " — literally,  when  I  have  got  time  or  opportunity. 
That  opportunity  came  often,  and  he  and  Paul  had  many 
a^collo^uy.  But  there  was  a  sordid  motive  mixed  up  with 
his  conduct.  At  the  very  time  he  was  so  solemnized  as 
to  make  this  reply,  he  formed  the  resolution  of  securing 
a  bribe  if  possible — "  He  hoped  also  that  money  should 
have  been  given  him  of  Paul,  that  he  might  loose  him : 
wherefore  he  sent  for  him  the  oftener,  and  communed 
with  him."  Avarice  put  on  the  guise  of  an  anxious4* 
inquirer,  took  an  interest  in  the  prisoner  to  make  money 
out  of  him,  and  hoped  to  be  well  paid  for  all  the  commun- 
ing which  it  held  with  him.  Felix  would  risk  another 
discourse  on  righteousness,  temperance,  and  judgment  to 
come,  and  even  submit  to  the  alarm  produced  by  it,  if  he 
might  win  compensation  in  a  few  shekels  and  talents.  To 
what  base  subterfuges  hypocrisy  will  stoop.  Balaam  could 
only  speak  as  God  allowed  him,  but  he  would  only  speak 
for  hire;  his  heart  clung  to  "  the  wages  of  unrighteousness  " 
as  fondly  as  it  longed  for  "  the  death  of  the  righteous." 
While  Saul  was  planning  to  increase  the  king's  flocks 
out  of  the  spoils  of  Amalek,  he  was  religiously  professing 
that  he  had  been  only  collecting  victims  for  God's  altar. 
Herod,  while  he  is  sharpening  his  poniard,  devoutly  says — 
"  Bring  me  word  again,  that  I  may  come  and  worship  Him 
also."  Felix  pretends  concern  for  his  soul,  that  he  might 
charm  some  money  from  the  preacher.  He  knew  that  the 
apostle  had  come  to  Jerusalem  in  possession  of  money,  as 

2c 


402  PAUL  AT   CESAREA. 

he  had  stated  in  his  answer  before  the  tribunal,  and  he 
thought  that,  like  the  most  of  men,  he  would  do  anything 
or  give  anything  for  freedom — that  he  would  not  scruple 
to  offer  a  bribe  of  what  did  not  belong  to  him.  He  judged 
Paul  by  himself,  and  was  disappointed ;  for  Paul  preferred 
to  liberty  a  good  name  and  a  clear  conscience.  He  woukl 
not  aid  a  Roman  magistrate  in  violating  the  law,  or  buy 
his  freedom  with  the  wages  of  iniquity.  What  Felix  was 
is  indicated  by  those  words,  and  under  his  prefecture  no 
one  would  be  punished  who  could  purchase  a  pardon,  and 
the  locks  of  the  prison  might  be  opened  by  a  golden  key. 

Two  years  passed,  and  yet  the  prisoner  remained  under 
military  surveillance.  No  farther  crime  was  alleged  against 
him,  nor  was  he  again  brought  to  trial.  If  Lysias  came 
down,  nothing  resulted.  Felix  yet  hoped  for  a  bribe,  or 
perhaps  he  had  begun  to  despair  of  triumphing  over  Paul's 
rectitude.  But  at  length  he  was  superseded.  Clamour 
had  been  raised  against  him — his  rapine  and  tyranny  had 
provoked  the  nation,  who  complained  of  him  to  the  emperor. 
The  people  had  borne  long,  but  their  patience  was  exhausted. 
Felix,  aroused  to  his  peril,  and  ever  alive  to  his  interests, 
thought  ere  he  left  to  propitiate  the  Jews,  and  gain  some 
popularity  with  them.  Knowing  what  would  gratify  them, 
and  perhaps  induce  them  to  abandon  a  formal  charge 
against  him,  he  "  left  Paul  bound."  He  had  been  in  free 
keeping,  friends  having  access  to  him,  but  now  his  liberty 
was  abridged,  and  he  was  put  into  strict  military  custody, 
chained  to  a  soldier,  and  he  wore  that  chain,  when  shortly 
afterwards  he  appeared  before  Agrippa.  Felix  did  this 
against  his  own  convictions,  for  he  knew  that  no  charge 


EESULT   OF   THE   TRIAL.  403 

could  be  substantiated  against  the  prisoner ;  in  fact,  that 
in  strict  justice  he  should  have  been  liberated  long  ago. 
It  was  therefore  an  act  of  wanton  tyranny  to  place  him  in 
closer  durance,  and  from  such  a  motive.  His  oratory  had 
terrified  Felix,  but  the  impression  was  so  evanescent  that 
he  could  subject  the  orator  to  an  ignoble  fetter — sacrifice 
the  man  who  had  made  him  tremble — to  propitiate  the  Jews. 
He  had  no  scruple  about  the  means,  provided  the  end  were 
obtained.  On  arriving  at  Kome,  the  procurator  was  tried 
before  the  emperor,  and  was  with  difficulty  acquitted 
through  his  brother's  interest. 

Those  two  years  at  Cesarea  were  a  breathing  time  to  the 
apostle.  Then  and  there  probably  the  third  Gospel  was 
written  by  Luke,  and  the  mind  of  Paul  was  nerved  by 
meditation  and  prayer  for  the  close  of  his  career.  It  was 
like  the  leisure  of  a  sick-bed  to  a  dying  saint — a  repose 
among  the  flowers  that  grow  upon  the  brink  of  the  river, 
ere  he  is  summoned  to  cross  it. 


404  PAUL  AT  CESAKEA. 


ffi. 


BEFORE     FESTUS. 

ACTS  xxv.  1—12. 

Felix  was  recalled,  and  Porcius  Festus  sent  out  to 
Judea  by  Nero,  at  the  beginning  of  his  reign.  As  a 
magistrate,  his  character  and  conduct  were  greatly  superior 
to  those  of  his  predecessor.  Three  days  after  his  arrival 
at  Cesarea  the  Koman  capital,  he  went  up  to  Jerusalem 
the  national  capital,  prompted  no  less  by  curiosity  than  by 
a  desire  to  meet  with  the  men  who  swayed  to  a  large 
extent  the  destinies  of  the  people,  and  upon  whose  feelings 
and  measures  no  little  of  the  peace  and  prosperity  of  his 
administration  would  depend.  The  enemies  of  the  apostle, 
unable  to  gain  anything  from  Felix,  at  once  beset  his 
successor.  "  The  high  priest "  (Ismael)  u  and  the  chief  of 
the  Jews  "  informed  him  against  Paul,  made  it  a  special 
request^  and  put  the  granting  of  it  on  the  footing  of  a 
personal  favour — that  he  would  send  for  Paul  to  Jeru- 
salem, that  is,  transfer  his  trial  to  Jerusalem,  their  object 
being  to  assassinate  him  by  the  way.  The  governor, 
whether  aware  or  not  of  their  motives,  would  not  listen, 
but  replied  that  Paul  should  be  kept  at  Cesarea,  and  "  that 
he  himself  should  depart  shortly  thither" — "Let  them, 
therefore,  said  he,  which  among  you  are  able,  go  down 
with  me,  and  accuse  this  man,  if  there  be  any  wickedness 
in  him."  By  the  epithet  "  able  " — "  which  among  you  are 


CHARGES  BY  THE  JEWS.  405 

able  " — is  to  be  understood,  not  those  who  had  ability  to 
attend  the  court  at  Cesarea,  but  persons  of  power  or  of 
rank — the  magnates.  There  is  in  the  proper  text  no  word 
corresponding  to  "wickedness,"  and  the  clause  is  more 
emphatic  without  it — "if  there  be  anything  in  this  man." 
Having  sojourned  in  Jerusalem  not  more  than  eight  or  ten 
days,  Festus  returned  to  the  seat  of  government,  and  the 
very  next  day,  "  sitting  on  the  judgment-seat "  the  symbol 
of  his  authority,  "  commanded  Paul  to  be  brought."  The 
Jews  who  had  come  down  to  Cesarea  "  stood  round  about" 
him,  and  laid  numerous  and  heavy  complaints  against 
him,  but  on  examination  they  could  not  prove  them. 
Their  charges  of  apostacy,  sacrilege,  and  treason,  being 
unsupported,  fell  at  once  to  the  ground. 

The  apostle's  various  replies,  made  by  him  from  time 
to  time  as  opportunity  offered,  are  thus  summed  up — 
"  Neither  against  the  law  of  the  Jews,  neither  against  the 
temple,  nor  yet  against  Caesar,  have  I  offended  anything 
at  all.75  The  accusations  were  much  the  same  as  those 
brought  before  Felix,  and  his  formal  answer  would  also  be 
similar — a  distinct  denial  of  all  those  charges,  and  a 
challenge  to  any  one  to  prove  them  against  him. 

The  procurator  was  bound  in  equity  at  this  point  to 
have  acquitted  the  captive  at  his  bar,  but  he  was  most 
anxious  to  ingratiate  himself  with  the  men  in  power,  and, 
like  Pilate  and  Felix  before  him,  "to  do  the  Jews  a 
pleasure;"  and  perhaps  he  might  imagine  that  means  of 
proof  might  be  found  in  Jerusalem  which  were  not  forth- 
coming at  Cesarea.  He  does  not  yield  their  entire  request 
to  the  Jews ;  but,  as  if  he  suspected  their  fairness,  he  pro- 


406  PAUL  AT  CESAREA. 

poses  that  himself  should  be  present  in  their  council,  and 
wishes  also  to  obtain  the  prisoner's  consent  to  change  the 
venue.  His  question  was,  "  Wilt  thou  go  up  to  Jerusalem, 
and  there  be  judged  of  these  things  before  me?"  The 
question  was  a  treacherous  one.  It  was  put  from  a  bad 
motive — to  please  the  Jews;  and  it  was  subjecting  the 
prisoner  to  a  new  trial,  and  for  the  same  unproved  offence. 
The  apostle  felt  at  once  what  the  question  involved,  and 
what  injustice  it  meditated ;  that  it  was  an  unwarranted 
change  of  jurisdiction  which  would  make  his  sworn 
enemies  his  judges,  and  he  nobly  answered — "  At  Caesar's 
judgment-seat  I  am  standing,  where  I  ought  to  be  judged ; 
the  Jews  in  nothing  have  I  wronged,  as  thou  knowest 
better  (than  thou  choosest  to  confess).  For  if  I  am  guilty, 
or  have  done  anything  worthy  of  death,  I  do  not  refuse 
to  die,  but  if  there  be  not  one  of  the  things  of  which  they 
accuse  me,  no  one  can  deliver  me  unto  them.  I  APPEAL 

TO  CAESAR." 

The  apostle's  life  was  at  stake,  and  he  would  not  be  the 
victim  of  injustice.  He  was  at  that  moment  at  Caesar's 
judgment-seat,  to  be  tried  by  his  delegate  and  under  his 
authority,  and  there,  and  there  alone,  could  his  trial  as 
a  Roman  citizen  be  conducted.  Let  him  be  pronounced 
guilty  or  not  guilty  at  the  proper  tribunal.  He  had  done 
no  injury  to  the  Jews,  and  he  hints  that  Festus  must  have 
been  convinced  of  this  during  the  trial,  or  by  the  record  of 
the  previous  one.  Let  him  be  found  guilty  on  proper 
evidence,  and  he  refuses  not  to  die — does  not  beg  off  from 
death.  But  let  him  be  found  innocent,  then  surely  no  one 
had  legal  power  to  remand  him  to  Jerusalem,  this  want 


APPEAL   TO   CLESAR.  407 

of  power  being  even  implied  in  the  procurator's  question — 
"Wilt  thou  go  up  to  Jerusalem  and  be  judged?"  But 
the  apostle  knew  the  hazard,  saw  the  procurator's  weak 
desire  to  please  the  Jews,  felt  that  his  case  had  been  too 
long  delayed,  and  therefore  took  it  out  of  the  hands  of 
Festus  and  out  of  the  hands  of  the  sanhedrim,  and 
appealed  to  Caesar.  It  was  a  wise  and  also  a  necessary 
step,  and  as  a  Koman  citizen  he  was  entitled  to  take  it — 
to  carry  his  case  from  the  inferior  court  at  Cesarea  to  the 
imperial  tribunal  at  Rome.  It  needed  no  written  docu- 
ment or  formal  reasons — the  simple  sentence  was  enough, 
such  was  the  power  and  sweep  of  the  Roman  law  through 
all  the  provinces  of  the  empire.  Festus  may  have  been 
surprised  by  the  sudden  termination ;  but  after  consulting 
for  a  moment  with  his  assessors,  for  the  privilege  of  appeal 
was  guarded  by  some  exceptions,  he  said,  "Thou  hast 
appealed  unto  Caesar,  unto  Caesar  thou  shalt  go."  These 
last  words  must  have  cheered  him  after  two  years'  deten- 
tion, and  revived  his  hope  of  seeing  Rome.  Hope  so  long 
deferred  may  have  made  his  "heart  sick,"  but  the  way 
was  at  length  providentially  opened,  and  Christ's  promise, 
harmonizing  with  his  own  fervent  desire,  was  at  length 
to  be  fulfilled. 


408  PAUL  AT   CESAREA. 


IF. 

BEFORE  FESTUS  AND  AGRIPPA. 

ACTS  xxv.  13 — 27 ;  xxvi.  1—32. 

Agrippa  was  a  son  of  the  Herod  who  was  struck  with 
mortal  and  loathsome  agony  "  by  the  angel  of  the  Lord," 
during  the  celebration  of  games  in  honour  of  the  emperor 
at  Cesarea.  Acts,  xii.  23.  At  the  period  of  his  father's 
death  he  was  at  the  court  of  Claudius  Caesar  at  Rome,  and 
only  seventeen  years  of  age.  Motives  of  policy  kept  the 
emperor  from  allowing  so  young  a  man  to  succeed  his 
father  as  king  over  a  people  so  turbulent  as  the  Jews,  and 
Cuspius  Fadus  was  sent  in  his  room  as  procurator.  But 
the  small  kingdom  of  Chalcis  was  conferred  upon  the 
prince,  with  the  supervision  of  the  temple  in  Jerusalem  j 
and  a  short  time  afterwards  he  was  raised  to  royal  sove- 
reignty over  those  tetrarchies  which  had  belonged  to  Philip 
and  Lysanias.  He  is  not  called  "  the  king  of  the  Jews," 
but  only  king ;  for  Judea  was  still  under  a  procurator  and 
attached  to  the  province  of  Syria.  Bernice,  his  eldest 
sister,  was  of  great  beauty,  and  of  as  great  depravity.  She 
was  married  first  to  her  uncle  Herod  of  Chalcis,  and  after 
his  death  she  lived  with  Agrippa  under  the  stain  of  an 
incestuous  attachment.  To  divert  the  scandal,  she  married 
Polemon,  king  of  Cilicia,  but  soon  left  him  and  came  back 
to  her  brother.  In  subsequent  years  she  became  mistress  of 
Vespasian,  and  of  his  son  Titus,  who  was  obliged  by  popular 
clamour  to  part  with  her — as  reluctant,  indeed,  to  dismiss 


LEGAL  OPINION   OF  FESTUS.  409 

her  as  she  was  to  be  dismissed.  Josephus  records  her 
career,  and  she  has  not  escaped  the  pencil  of  Juvenal. 

No  sooner  had  Festus  taken  possession  of  his  govern- 
ment than  Agrippa  and  his  sister  came  to  salute  him — to 
offer  their  formal  congratulations  to  him,  and  through  him 
to  the  emperor.  During  their  residence  with  him,  Festus 
mentioned  Paul  to  them,  as  "  a  certain  man  left  in  bonds 
by  Felix ; "  and  after  detailing  the  circumstances,  and  the 
bearing  of  the  Koman  law  upon  them,  contemptuously 
narrowed  the  case  to  a  point,  that  the  whole  controversy 
was — "  of  one  Jesus  which  was  dead,  whom  Paul  affirmed 
to  be  alive."  It  was  true  ;  the  entire  dispute  did  hang 
on  this — Was  He  who  died  on  Calvary  raised  again  from 
the  dead  ?  The  gospel  rests  solely  and  wholly  upon  the 
affirmative  answer,  and  that  affirmative  was  the  soul  and 
substance  of  the  apostle's  preaching.  On  this  statement 
of  the  matter,  "Agrippa  said  unto  Festus,  I  would  also 
hear  the  man  myself.  To-morrow,  said  he,  thou  shalt  hear 
him.  And  on  the  morrow,  when  Agrippa  was  come,  and 
Bernice,  with  great  pomp,  and  was  entered  into  the  place 
of  hearing,  with  the  chief  captains  and  principal  men  of 
the  city,  at  Festus'  command  Paul  was  brought  forth." 

Before  this  lordly  assemblage  Festus  again  gives  a  brief 
account  of  the  trial  of  the  apostle,  with  the  special  declara- 
tion— "  I  found  that  he  had  committed  nothing  worthy  of 
death."  But  the  entire  question  was  beyond  the  range 
of  his  experience,  and  he  did  not  know  how  to  word  his 
despatch  to  Rome — "  Of  whom  I  have  no  certain  thing  to 
write  unto  my  lord.  Wherefore  I  have  brought  him 
before  you,  and  specially  before  thee,  0  King  Agrippa, 


410  PAUL  AT  CESAREA. 

that,  after  examination  had,  I  might  have  somewhat  to 
write."  Agrippa  "being  thus  appealed  to  as  the  principal 
personage,  at  once  addressed  the  prisoner  in  these  words — 
"Thou  art  permitted  to  speak  for  thyself.  Then  Paul 
stretched  forth  his  hand  and  answered  for  himself — 

a  On  all  the  counts  with  which  I  am  charged  by  the 
Jews,  King  Agrippa,  I  think  myself  happy  in  being  about 
to  defend  myself  this  day  before  thee,  especially  as  thou 
art  so  experienced  about  all  customs  and  also  questions 
belonging  to  the  Jews :  wherefore  I  beseech  thee  to  hear 
me  patiently.  My  manner  of  life  from  my  youth,  which 
from  the  beginning  was  among  my  own  nation  in  Jeru- 
salem, know  all  the  Jews,  who  previously  knowing  me 
from  the  beginning,  can  give  witness,  if  they  are  willing, 
that  in  accordance  with  the  strictest  sect  of  our  religion 
I  lived  a  Pharisee.  And  now  for  the  hope  of  the  promise 
made  to  our  fathers  by  God,  I  stand  on  my  trial — which 
promise  our  twelve  tribes,  intensely  engaging  in  divine 
service  night  and  day,  hope  to  reach :  for  which  hope  I  am 
charged  by  the  Jews,  O  king.  What !  is  it  reckoned  by 
you  a  thing  beyond  belief,  if  God  raises  the  dead  ?  Well, 
then,  I  thought  with  myself  that  I  was  under  necessity 
to  do  many  things  contrary  to  the  name  of  Jesus  the  Naza- 
rene ;  which  also  I  did  in  Jerusalem.  And  many  of  the 
saints  did  I  shut  up  into  prisons,  having  received  the 
(requisite)  authority  from  the  chief  priests ;  and  when  they 
were  being  put  to  death,  I  gave  my  vote  against  them. 
And  punishing  them  often  through  all  the  synagogues,  I 
forced  them  to  blaspheme ;  being  exceedingly  mad  against 
them,  I  persecuted  them  as  far  as  even  to  foreign  cities. 


ADDRESS.  411 

In  which  business  being  engaged  as  I  was  on  my  journey 
to  Damascus,  with  authority  and  commission  from  the 
chief  priests,  at  mid-day  I  saw,  O  king,  in  the  way  a  light 
from  heaven,  beyond  the  brightness  of  the  sun,  shining 
round  about  me  and  those  who  were  journeying  with  me. 
And  we  all  having  fallen  to  the  ground,  I  heard  a  voice 
speaking  to  me  and  saying  in  the  Hebrew  tongue — Saul, 
Saul,  why  persecutest  thou  me?  Hard  for  thee  it  is  to 
kick  against  the  pricks.  And  I  said — Who  art  thou, 
Lord  ?  And  He  said — I  am  Jesus,  whom  thou  persecutest. 
But  rise,  and  stand  upon  thy  feet:  because  for  this  end 
I  have  appeared  unto  thee,  to  ordain  thee  a  minister  and  a 
witness  both  of  those  things  which  thou  hast  seen,  and  of 
the  things  in  which  I  will  appear  to  thee ;  delivering  thee 
from  the  people  and  from  the  Gentiles,  to  ;whom  (both  of 
whom)  I  now  send  thee,  in  order  to  open  their  eyes,  so 
that  they  may  turn  from  darkness  to  light,  and  from  the 
power  of  Satan  unto  God,  that  they  may  receive  forgive- 
ness of  sins  and  inheritance  among  the  sanctified — by  faith 
that  is  in  Me.  Whereupon,  0  King  Agrippa,  I  did  not 
become  disobedient  to  the  heavenly  vision:  but  to  those 
in  Damascus  first,  and  also  in  Jerusalem,  and  throughout 
all  the  region  of  Judea,  and  to  the  Gentiles  I  preached, 
that  they  should  repent  and  turn  unto  God,  doing  works 
worthy  of  repentance.  On  these  accounts  the  Jews,  having 
seized  me  in  the  temple,  attempted  to  kill  me.  Having, 
therefore,  obtained  help  from  God,  unto  this  day  I  have 
stood,  testifying  both  to  small  and  great,  saying  nothing 
except  what  Moses  and  the  prophets  did  say  should  come 
— whether  the  Messiah  was  to  be  a  suffering  one,  whether 


fv'mrvitiLsiTV 


412  PAUL  AT  CESAEEA. 

as  the  first  from  the  resurrection  of  the  dead,  He  is  to 
proclaim  light  to  the  people  and  to  the  Gentiles." 

The  apostle  pursues  to  some  extent  the  same  argument 
which  he  had  delivered  to  the  Jewish  crowd  from  the  stairs 
of  the  temple  garrison.     He  professes  his  happiness  that 
King  Agrippa  is  to  hear  him ;  for  as  a  Jew  he  had  some 
acquaintance  with  the  themes  of  Jewish  controversy,  and 
had  not  the  passionate  antipathies  of  the  sanhedrim.     He 
tells  what  he  was,  how  he  was  educated  as  a  zealous 
Pharisee  in    the    first    seat   of  learning.      He   held    by 
the  nation's  hope  —  that  hope  which  they  all  cherished, 
and  which  they  were  so  eager  to  reach.     "Our  twelve 
tribes  "  is  the  name  which  he  gives  his  nation.     Ten  of 
them  had  gone  into  hopeless  captivity,  but  a  scanty  rem- 
nant may  have  come  back  with  Judah   and  Benjamin. 
But  the  full  theocratic  number  is  given,  and  all  of  them 
possessed   the   same   hope,  whatever   their   diversities  of 
character  and  position.      Keuben,  "  unstable  as  water," 
might  fall  short  of  excellence;   Simeon  might  wield  the 
instruments  of  cruelty,  and  be  scattered  through  the  com- 
monwealth •  Levi  might  exult  in  his  Urim  and  Thum- 
mim  as  he   offered  sacrifice  and  burned  incense ;  Judah 
might  recline  in  his  vineyard,  and  wash  his  clothes  in 
the  blood  of  grapes ;  Issachar  might  stoop  to  servitude  ; 
Zebulun  might  dwell  in  his  haven,  and  suck  the  treasures 
hid  in  the  sand ;  Dan  might  occupy  the  seat  of  the  judge, 
and  Napthali  that  of  the  bard ;  Gad  might  clothe  himself 
in  armour,  and  Asher  realize  the  blessedness  in  his  name ; 
Joseph  might  be  crowned  with  benediction,  and  revel  in 
fatness  and  wealth  ;  and  Benjamin  might  crouch  as  a  wolf 


RESURRECTION  NOT  BEYOND  GOD'S  POWER.         413 

among  his  fastnessess — but  whatever  their  peculiarity  and 
history,  whatever  their  temperament  and  locality,  the 
twelve  tribes  agreed  in  claiming  the  one  hope,  and  antici- 
pating it,  as  they  engaged  in  divine  service.  The  inference 
of  Paul  is,  that  he  had  preceded  them — that  he  had  found 
what  they  were  in  quest  of,  and  that  they  were  bound  to 
follow  him,  as  he  pointed  out  the  way  to  the  blessed  dis- 
covery. 

Then  he  throws  in  the  question — "  Why  should  it  be 
thought  a  thing  impossible  with  you,  that  God  should  raise 
the  dead?"  Agrippa  had  been  taught  this  doctrine — that 
God  could  raise  the  dead ;  that  He  who  made  the  body 
could  reorganize  it ;  that  He  who  had  caused  what  was  not 
to  be,  could  surely  bring  back  to  being  what  had  been;  and 
if  He  did  raise  a  dead  man  on  any  special  occasion,  no  one 
with  the  Old  Testament  in  his  hand  could  say  that  the 
statement  was  in  itself,  and  of  necessity,  incredible.  That 
He  had  raised  up  Jesus  could  be  easily  and  satisfactorily 
demonstrated ;  and  His  resurrection  points  Him  out,  and 
glorifies  Him  as  the  hope  of  the  twelve  tribes. 

But  he  passes  away  from  this  theme,  and  then  tells 
what  he  had  become,  dwelling  on  the  strange  phenome- 
non which  had  so  suddenly  produced  the  change.  He 
is  minute  in  his  specification.  He  was  not  one  of  those 
creatures  of  such  facile  temper  and  constitutional  indiffer- 
ence, as  to  have  so  few  settled  convictions  that  a  change 
of  opinion  may  happen  either  one  way  or  another,  and  yet 
scarcely  disturb  their  mental  equilibrium.  Nor  was  he 
one  of  that  class  who  are  liable  to  continual  oscillation, 
whose  sentiments  of  to-day  cannot  be  safely  predicted  to 


414  PAUL  AT  CESAREA. 

be  those  of  to-morrow,  and  in  whom,  therefore,  any  altera- 
tion of  view  excites  no  surprise.  He  had  held  very  fixed 
opinions  and  acted  tenaciously  up  to  them  ;  did  many 
things  from  conviction  contrary  to  the  name  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  ;  persecuted  many  of  the  saints  under  a  commis- 
sion from  the  chief  priests  ;  recorded  his  vote  for  their 
death  when  they  were  tried  before  the  sanhedrim ;  punished 
them  often  in  every  synagogue;  laboured  by  torture  to 
induce  them  to  blaspheme ;  nay,  his  rage  was  not  bounded 
by  his  country — "  being  exceeding  mad  against  them,  I 
persecuted  them  even  unto  strange  cities." 

Why  and  how,  then,  had  he  changed  —  changed  so 
suddenly  and  so  decidedly  as  not  only  to  cease  to  be  a 
persecutor,  but  to  become  a  preacher  of  the  new  faith 
with  unexampled  activity,  to  suffer  the  loss  of  all  in 
connection  with  it,  and  to  be  a  willing  martyr  for  it? 
How  came  that  change?  It  was  not  by  argument,  or 
as  the  result  of  a  mental  conflict.  It  was  not  by  close 
intercourse  with  Christians  and  a  more  thorough  acquain- 
tance with  their  creed  and  character.  The  ingratitude 
of  his  employers  did  not  drive  him  from  them,  nor  did 
he  petulantly  go  over  to  Christianity,  because  some  other 
agent  had  superseded  him  in  their  favour.  Nor  did  he 
grow  colder  and  colder  in  his  attachment  to  Judaism,  and 
at  length  openly  recant  when  the  sanhedrim  withdrew 
their  confidence  from  him.  Ambition  could  not  prompt 
him,  nor  the  prospect  of  wealth  allure  him.  No ;  it  was  in 
the  midst  of  his  bold  and  enthusiastic  career,  as  he  went 
to  Damascus  with  authority  and  commission  from  the 
chief  priests  to  imprison,  torture,  and  slay  the  Christian 


CAUSE  OF  PAUL'S  CONVERSION.  415 

disciples,  that  he  was  changed.  Therefore,  the  ordinary 
inducement  to  change  opinion  and  party  were  not  appli- 
cable to  him. 

Why  and  how,  then,  had  he  changed?  His  simple 
answer  is — that  Jesus,  the  founder  of  Christianity,  met 
him  and  spoke  to  him ;  that  He  was  enveloped  in  a  glory 
"above  the  brightness"  of  the  noonday  sun;  that  this 
scene  was  no  hallucination,  for  it  happened  "at  mid-day;'7 
and  that  the  light  also  dazzled  them  which  journeyed  with 
him,  and  they  could  attest  the  truth  of  his  statement. 
Jesus  then  accosted  him,  told  him  who  He  was,  and  why 
He  had  appeared.  The  challenge  was,  "  Why  persecutest 
thou  Me?" — He  and  His  being  one.  "  It  is  hard  for  thee 
to  kick  against  the  pricks."  Such  wildness  only  multi- 
plies and  deepens  the  wounds.  Had  Saul  some  misgivings 
already?  Did  the  scene  of  Stephen's  martyrdom  haunt 
him ;  and  were  the  tones  of  that  prayer  still  lingering  in 
his  ear?  Had  he  begun  to  feel  the  pricks,  and  to  recalci- 
trate ere  the  Master  spoke  ?  At  all  events  his  mind  was 
opened  at  once  to  conviction,  and  would  persecute  Jesus 
no  more.  He  durst  not;  those  words  touched  his  soul,  and 
filled  it  with  a  new  power.  Jesus  then  gave  him  that  evan- 
gelical commission  to  declare  what  he  had  seen  and  heard, 
and  to  carry  the  gospel  of  salvation  to  the  gentile  .world. 

The  inference  which  he  silently  pressed  upon  Agrippa  was, 
Could  any  one  remain  unconvinced  after  such  a  manifesta- 
tion— any  one  whose  eyes  had  been  dazzled  by  such  glory, 
and  his  ears  appalled  by  such  an  address  ?  It  was  no  inner 
impression,  which  a  fanatical  imagination  might  create ;  but 
an  outer  and  a  palpable  display  before  his  very  senses,  so 


416  PAUL  AT  CESAREA. 

vast  and  so  public,  as  to  be  accounted  for  in  no  way  by 
any  ocular  deception.  He  had  seen  the  Nazarene  in  a 
glory  which  the  sky  could  not  furnish,  and  He  had  spoken 
to  him ;  what  else  could  he  do  but  obey  ?  He  durst  not 
refuse — there  could  be  no  rebellion  against  such  a  com- 
mand ;  and,  therefore,  he  honestly  obeyed  the  commission 
which  he  received.  He  did  as  he  was  told,  and  he  could 
not  do  otherwise.  It  was  impossible  for  him  to  be  "  diso- 
bedient to  the  heavenly  vision" — he  "showed  first  unto 
them  of  Damascus,  and  at  Jerusalem,  and  throughout  all 
the  coasts  of  Judea,  and  then  to  the  Gentiles,  that  they 
should  repent  and  turn  to  God,  and  do  works  meet  for 
repentance."  This  conviction  was  deep  and  indelible.  It 
nerved  him  to  suffering  and  perseverance.  It  made  his 
nation  his  enemy,  but  he  would  die  rather  than  cease  to 
believe  and  do  the  work  of  an  apostle. 

And  thus  he  describes  his  labours — "  Having  therefore 
obtained  help  of  God,  I  continue  unto  this  day,  witnessing 
both  to  small  and  great,  saying  none  other  things  than  those 
which  the  prophets  and  Moses  did  say  should  come ;  that 
Christ  should  suffer,  and  that  He  should  be  the  first  that 
should  rise  from  the  dead,  and  should  show  light  unto  the 
people  and  to  the  Gentiles."  This  is  a  resume  of  his  preach- 
ing, as  he  spoke  in  Damascus  and  in  Jerusalem,  throughout 
the  coasts  of  Judea  and  among  the  Gentiles.  He  discussed 
the  question  as  to  the  character  of  Messiah ;  proved  that 
He  was  capable  of  suffering,  and  was  to  be  distinguished 
by  suffering,  as  at  Thessalonica.  He  held  that  He  was 
risen  again,  as  he  had  done  at  Antioch  in  Pisidia.  He 
maintained  that  He  was  to  enlighten  the  Jew  first  and  then 


RESUME.  417 

the  Gentile,  and  this  he  had  done  in  the  same  Antioch. 
Everywhere  he  had  proclaimed  these  truths — a  Messiah 
who  had  come,  who  had  been  characterized  by  suffering, 
who  had  risen  again  from  the  dead,  and  who  had  by  His 
apostles  instructed  Jew  and  Gentile  on  the  momentous 
topics  of  sin  and  salvation,  God  and  eternity.  Everywhere 
he  had  shown  that  these  events  and  these  blessings  were 
in  perfect  accordance  with  the  Hebrew  scriptures,  with 
Moses  and  the  prophets,  and  that,  therefore,  Christianity 
is  the  genuine  and  orthodox  Judaism.  The  address  is  still 
meant  for  Agrippa.  The  apostle  again  maintains  his  con- 
sistency as  a  Jew,  and  that  he  propounded  no  novelty 
in  preaching  a  Messiah  that  should  surfer,  rise  again,  and 
illumine  both  Jew  and  Gentile,  but  had  spoken  in  perfect 
harmony  with  the  utterances  of  Moses  and  the  prophets. 
The  fulfilment  of  prophecy  in  the  sufferings  of  Christ  has 
been  considered  by  us  under  previous  heads — "Paul  at 
Antioch  in  Pisidia,"  "Paul  at  Thessalonica." 

The  Jewish  colouring  of  this  address,  its  reference  to 
Jewish  prophecy  and  its  fulfilment,  its  use  of  special  terms — 
such  as  " forgiveness,"  "Satan,"  "inheritance,"  "sanctified" 
— and  its  allusions  to  a  resurrection,  made  it  unintelligible 
to  Festus,  and  he  broke  in  with  loud  and  impetuous  tones 
— "  Paul,  thou  ravest,  much  learning  has  thrown  thee  into 
madness."  "  Much  learning  "  is,  literally,  many  letters — 
many  books  of  the  same  class  as  the  Jewish  scriptures 
referred  to ;  and  the  continuous  study  of  them,  according 
to  Festus,  had  subverted  his  reason.  He  was  regarded  by 
the  governor  as  an  unfortunate  monomaniac,  heated  into 
fanaticism  by  intense  application  to  occult  and  supersti- 

2D 


418  PAUL  AT   CESAREA. 

tious  learning.  Ah !  truly  the  apostle  must  have  often 
appeared  as  beside  himself,  for  he  acted  in  opposition  to 
maxims  of  worldly  prudence,  and  cared  not  for  what  most 
men  labour  and  struggle.  A  sceptical  age  like  his,  when 
selfishness  reigned  supreme,  and  men  lived  but  for  the 
pleasure  of  the  hour,  and  had  no  thought  of  a  God  who 
governs  or  a  judge  who  will  scrutinize ;  when  serious 
thought  and  settled  conviction  had  ceased  to  be  felt,  and 
every  one  was  fluttering  among  opinions  and  creeds  like  an 
insect  among  flowers,  pleased  with  all  of  them  by  turns, 
but  attached  to  none  of  them — such  an  age  must  have 
branded  as  a  madman  the  homeless  old  man,  cold, 
hungry,  ragged,  scourged,  and  shipwrecked — yet  unwearied 
in  his  zeal  and  labours  as  he  travelled,  preached,  wrote, 
and  suffered — his  life  in  danger,  and  a  chain  upon  his 
wrist.  They  could  not  gauge  his  soul  —  they  had  no 
plumb-line  of  sufficient  length.  And  yet  they  were  the 
fools.  He  had  studied  the  chart  and  foreseen  the  danger, 
and  his  feet  were  now  upon  a  rock — while  they  were  making 
merry  in  a  vessel  which  was  gliding  round  the  outer  edge 
of  the  whirlpool,  soon  to  narrow  the  circle  with  increasing 
velocity,  till  amidst  shrieks  and  despair  she  plunged  into 
the  terrible  abyss.  Yes,  as  thou  spakest  in  synagogues, 
didst  declaim  on  Mars-hill,  bare  thy  back  to  the  lash,  fab- 
ricate those  tents,  shiver  on  the  wreck,  or  answer  before 
governors  arid  kings,  resolved  to  die  rather  than  recant ; 
while  thou  didst  hold  thy  life  in  thy  hand,  and  priests  and 
zealots  sought  to  snatch  it  from  thee, — all  this  while  thou 
wast  carrying  the  truest  wisdom  with  thee — wise  in  doing 
the  Master's  work — wise  in  winning  souls — soon  to  shine 


APPEAL  TO  AGRIPPA.  419 

wisest  among  the  wise,  "  like  the  brightness  of  the  firma- 
ment," and  having  "turned  many  to  righteousness,"  to  be 
an  orb  of  surpassing  radiance  among  "the  stars  for  ever 
and  ever." 

The  rude  and  bold  interruption  of  Festus  did  not  dis- 
concert the  apostle,  but  he  calmly  replies — "I  am  not 
mad" — and  he  withholds  not  his  title — "most  noble  Festus, 
but  words  of  truth  and  sanity  am  I  uttering" — not  the  mere 
hallucinations  of  a  disordered  intellect.  Then  he  turns 
with  graceful  tact  away  from  Festus,  to  whom  he  was  not 
speaking,  and  who  had  heard  and  judged  him  before,  and 
appeals  to  the  king — that  he  was  no  stranger  to  these 
things — that  they  were  not  done  in  a  corner,  for  his  con- 
version had  been  effected  on  the  highway,  and  his  public  life 
had  been  matter  of  notoriety.  What  might  appear  insanity 
to  a  Koman  like  Festus,  might  yet  be  an  intelligible 
and  self-consistent  narrative  to  a  well-informed  Jew  like 
Agrippa.  The  appeal  burst  suddenly — "  King  Agrippa, 
believest  thou  the  prophets?"  and  the  reply  follows  as  a 
master-stroke — "  I  know  that  thou  believest."  The  king 
was  educated  in  that  belief,  and  had  not  apostatized  from 
it;  held  that  "the  prophets"  were  inspired  of  God,  and 
that  their  oracles  were  true  in  fact  and  divine  in  origin. 
The  tacit  inference  was,  that  Agrippa's  faith  in  the  pro- 
phets should  lead  him  to  faith  in  the  Christ,  to  whom  they 
all  gave  witness.  Agrippa  saw  at  once  the  design,  and 
replied  in  compliment  to  his  eloquence — "Almost  thou 
persuadest  me  to  be  a  Christian."  It  is  universally 
admitted  that  the  phrase  rendered  "  almost,"  cannot  bear 
that  translation.  If  it  have  a  temporal  sense,  it  may  mean 


420  PAUL  AT   CESAREA. 

— in  brief  space  thou  art  persuading  me  to  become  a  Chris- 
tian. Or  it  may  have  a  quantitative  sense — with  little 
trouble,  or  with  little  argument,  you  would  make  me  a 
Christian.  What  the  motive  was  that  prompted  the 
declaration  we  do  not  know.  It  was  probably  a  complex 
one.  He  was  so  far  moved  by  the  apostle's  earnestness 
and  sympathy,  and  he  had  also  some  information  on  the 
subject ;  but  such  an  impression  was  not  conviction.  The 
sense  may  be — really,  without  much  ado,  thou  art  trying 
to  make  me  a  Christian;  you  would  make  a  Christian  of  me 
as  easily  and  in  as  off-hand  a  way  as  you  were  made  your- 
self: the  name  Christian,  of  heathen  coinage,  in  his  mouth, 
does  not  imply  any  sincere  or  decided  emotion,  for  he  was 
a  haughty  and  light-minded  voluptuary. 

God  had  done  much  for  the  Herods,  but  their  worldli- 
ness  and  ambition  ruined  them.  The  first  of  them  had 
been  visited  by  the  Magi,  and  might  have  hallowed  the 
great  event  of  his  reign — the  birth  of  Jesus.  Another  of 
them  had  the  ministry  of  apostles,  if  he  had  chosen  to 
enjoy  it ;  but  he  beheaded  one  of  them,  and  imprisoned  a 
second.  And  this  last  of  them  so  specially  appealed  to 
on  this  occasion,  listened  without  conviction,  and  allowed 
the  precious  opportunity  to  pass.  He  still  fawned  upon 
the  Roman  power,  as  he  did  on  this  visit  to  Festus ;  but 
his  courtly  demeanour  could  not  stay  its  final  fury,  and  he 
lived  to  see  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem. 

Agrippa  having  thus  replied,  the  apostle  rose  at  once  to 
the  occasion,  and  uttered  his  last  public  words  for  Christ 
in  Judsea — "  I  would  to  God,  that  not  only  thou,  but 
also  all  that  hear  me  this  day,  were  both  almost,  and 


LAST  WORDS   IN  JUDEA.  421 

altogether  such  as  I  am,  except  these  bonds."  This 
peroration  reaches  sublimity — so  brief  is  it  and  so  com- 
pact— sweeping  round  the  bench  and  the  audience,  and 
ending  with  a  touching  allusion  to  his  own  captivity. 
The  apostle's  reply  may  be  rendered — •"  I  could  pray  to 
God,  that  not  only  thou,  but  also  all  that  hear  me  this 
day,  might  become,  both  in  little  and  in  much,  such  as 
I  am,  except  these  bonds ;"  or,  with  another  reading,  "  I 
could  pray  to  God  that  whether  (persuaded)  with  ease 
or  with  difficulty,  not  only  thou,  but  all  that  hear  me  this 
day,  might  become  such  as  I  am,  except  these  bonds.'7 
The  answer  corresponds  to  the  statement,  and  is  to  be 
understood  accordingly.  The  apostle  could  pray,  or  found 
it  in  his  heart  to  pray — could  at  once  pour  out  an  ardent 
supplication,  were  it  convenient  at  that  moment ;  and  the 
prayer  is,  that  all  that  heard  him  might  become  as  he  was 
— a  genuine,  decided,  active,  and  patient  Christian — wholly 
Christ's,  and  wholly  in  His  work  as  he  was,  or  precisely  in 
his  condition.  But  he  checks  himself  at  once,  and  admits 
one  exception — "  these  bonds  " — as  he  points  to  the  fetter 
upon  his  arm,  or  lifts  it  to  view ;  "  except  these  bonds  " — 
and  by  an  instinctive  movement  of  his  arm,  the  words 
found  an  echo  in  the  clang  of  his  chain.  What  better 
prayer  could  the  apostle  present — what  nobler  wish  could 
he  entertain  ?  His  prayer  could  not  be  that  Festus  should 
be  transferred  to  a  richer  province,  that  Agrippa  should 
succeed  to  a  larger  kingdom,  or  that  the  aristocracy  of 
Cesarea  should  enjoy  the  coveted  patronage  of  the  emperor. 
But  it  was  that  their  hearts  should  be  as  his,  their 
ambition  as  his,  and  their  life  as  his — vitalized  by  the 


422  PAUL  AT  CESAREA. 

truth  and  Spirit  of  Christ,  for  then  they  should  possess 
peace,  joy,  and  hope — working  for  Him  who  had  blessed 
them,  and  preparing  to  pass  into  His  presence  and  be 
crowned  with  His  rewards.  Yet  filled  as  his  soul  was  with 
ecstacy,  he  forgot  not  his  loss  of  liberty,  and  referred  to  it 
with  a  delicacy  which  pleaded  for  him  more  powerfully 
than  an  open  and  bitter  complaint. 

On  the  assembly  breaking  up,  a  favourable  opinion  was 
expressed  of  his  character — he  had  not  spoken  in  vain. 
Agrippa  uttered  the  formal  decision — "This  man  might"  or 
"could  have  been  set  at  liberty,  if  he  had  not  appealed  unto 
Ca3sar."  That  is,  he  ought  to  have  been  released  prior  to 
his  appeal ;  and  Felix  and  Festus  are  virtually  condemned 
for  their  partiality  or  carelessness.  But  his  discharge  was 
impossible,  now  that  an  appeal  had  been  taken;  for  an 
appeal  could  not  be  withdrawn,  even  with  the  consent  of 
both  parties.  His  appeal,  however,  secured  the  visit  to 
Home  on  which  his  heart  was  set,  and  by  which  he  should 
have  the  honour  of  proclaiming  the  gospel  for  a  long 
period  in  the  eternal  city. 


XVII.— PAUL  ON  THE  VOYAGE  TO  ROME. 

ACTS  xxvii. 

THE  great  goal  of  the  apostle's  life  is  now  to  be  reached. 
The  name  of  Kome  must  have  been  familiar  to  him  from 
his  youth.  Images  of  its  military  and  architectural  gran- 
deur must  have  often  floated  before  him ;  the  City  of  the 
Seven  Hills  must  have  stood  out  to  him  as  the  centre  of 
the  world's  pomp  and  power.  Wherever  he  had  been, 
at  home  in  Tarsus,  in  Judea,  in  the  Levant,  in  Asia 
Minor,  and  in  Europe,  Koman  authority  and  law  prevailed. 
Roman  roads  had  been  often  trodden  by  him,  and  he  had 
seen  the  eagles  of  Rome  under  every  sky.  He  longed  to 
visit  the  great  metropolis,  and  he  had  already  written  a 
large  and  argumentative  letter  to  the  church  there.  He 
did  not  reach  it  so  soon  as  he  had  anticipated,  or  by  such 
a  journey  as  he  might  originally  contemplate.  But  God 
had  promised  it,  and  the  divine  promise  was  in  God's  own 
way  fulfilled.  In  self-defence  he  had  appealed  to  Csesar, 
and  he  must  sail  for  Italy  to  prosecute  his  appeal. 

The  time  of  departure  at  length  came,  and  Paul  and 
certain  other  prisoners — of  a  different  class,  were  placed 
under  the  care  of  Julius,  "a  centurion  of  Augustus'  band;" 
perhaps  a  captain  in  the  imperial  life-guards  returning 
to  Italy.  The  ship  in  which  they  embarked  at  Cesarea 
belonged  to  Adramyttium,  and  was  apparently  on  its 


424        PAUL  ON  THE  VOYAGE  TO  ROME. 

homeward  voyage,  "  meaning  to  sail  by  the  coasts  of 
Asia,"  the  usual  route  for  vessels  engaged  in  this  traffic. 
Several  of  the  apostle's  friends  were  with  him — Luke  the 
narrator,  and  Aristarchus  the  Macedonian,  whom  he  after- 
wards names  his  "fellow-labourer"  and  "fellow-prisoner." 
On  touching  at  Sidon  the  next  day,  the  centurion,  who, 
from  the  report  of  Festus,  must  have  been  aware  of  the 
frivolous  charges  preferred  against  him,  "  courteously 
entreated  Paul,"  and  allowed  him  to  go  on  shore  to  see  his 
friends  and  refresh  himself — the  reference  in  the  last  word 
being  to  corporeal  frailty,  perhaps  increased  by  sea-sickness. 
Leaving  Sidon,  they  sailed  under  Cyprus,  that  is,  under 
the  lee  of  Cyprus,  or  to  the  east  of  it,  the  direct  course 
being  to  the  south  of  it;  for  so  the  contrary  winds  com- 
pelled them,  and  they  might  take  advantage  of  a  strong 
current  which,  running  with  great  strength  to  the  west- 
ward, would  enable  them  to  make  way  against  the  gale. 
They  thus  "  sailed  over  the  sea  of  Cilicia  and  Pamphylia," 
and  "  came  to  Myra,  a  city  of  Lycia."  At  Myra  vessels 
were  changed,  and  the  prisoners  were  put  into  a  "  ship  of 
Alexandria  sailing  into  Italy  " — probably  a  corn-ship,  and, 
like  others  of  the  class,  a  regular  trader,  of  large  size  and 
with  a  well-appointed  crew.  On  loosing  from  Myra,  the 
wind  was  adverse.  Small  progress  was  made,  and  after 
"many  days"  they  had  with  difficulty  come  opposite  to 
Cnidus,  a  distance  of  not  more  than  one  hundred  and  thirty 
miles.  The  prevailing  wind  in  those  regions,  and  at  that 
season  of  the  year — the  close  of  summer — is  still  the 
north-west  wind,  against  which  the  ship  could  scarcely 
work  up.  In  consequence  of  this  they  ran  under  the  lee 


WARNINGS  OF  DANGER.  425 

of  Crete,  or  to  the  east  of  it,  so  as  to  be  sheltered  by  it. 
Having  with  difficulty  rounded  the  point  of  Salmone — 
"  hardly  passing  it,"  they  coasted  the  south  side  of  the 
island,  and,  unable  to  pass  Cape  Matala,  where  the  shore 
suddenly  trends  to  the  north,  they  put  in  to  the  Fair 
Havens,  not  far  from  Lasea — a  town,  the  ruins  of  which 
were  for  the  first  time  identified  in  1856  by  Mr.  Tennent, 
a  merchant  of  Glasgow,  and  the  friends  who  were  cruising 
with  him  in  his  yacht. 

The  season  was,  however,  far  advanced — "  the  fast  was 
now  already  past " — it  was  the  end  of  September  or  begin- 
ning of  October,  and  therefore  perilous  to  undertake  a  long 
voyage.  Navigation  was  not  actually  interrupted  till  about 
six  weeks  later,  but  sailing  "was  now  dangerous."  Warning 
comes  from  an  unexpected  quarter.  It  is  not  the  centurion 
in  anxiety  for  his  charge,  the  captain  afraid  of  his  ship,  nor 
the  owner  apprehensive  about  his  cargo.  It  is  not  the  crew 
who  refuse  to  put  to  sea,  nor  the  passengers  who  protest 
on  account  of  the  roughness  of  the  weather.  It  is  one  of 
the  prisoners  who  takes  it  upon  him  to  warn  them,  and  to 
foretell  disaster — damage  to  the  cargo  and  ship,  and  the 
jeopardy  of  their  own  lives.  The  apostle  was  no  coward 
himself,  and  he  knew  that  he  should  reach  Kome.  But  he 
had  regard  to  those  who  were  with  him.  He  knew  the 
dangers  of  the  season,  and  may  have  had  a  supernatural 
intimation.  He  felt  that  no  one  should  tempt  Providence, 
and  he  was  willing  to  remain,  though  assured  of  a  divine 
safeguard.  Nor  was  he  without  previous  experience — 
"  Thrice  I  suffered  shipwreck,  a  night  and  a  day  have  I 
been  in  the  deep."  This  is  the  first  time  he  speaks,  and 


426        PAUL  ON  THE  VOYAGE  TO  ROME. 

his  words  are  unheeded ;  but  in  a  brief  time  he  commanded 
attention,  and  the  safety  of  the  passengers  was  owing  to 
his  courage  and  presence  of  mind.  On  deck,'  though  in 
bonds,  he  grows  in  importance  among  soldiers  and  seamen 
who  knew  nothing  of  his  history,  and  cared  as  little  for  it ; 
nay,  rises  ultimately  into  supreme  command,  captain  and 
centurion  being  for  a  season  superseded  by  the  insignificant 
Jewish  prisoner.  Thus  mind  and  character  will  assert 
themselves  in  every  situation,  and  shine  through  every 
disguise.  These  forces  of  soul  defy  repression  and  burst 
into  ascendancy — guiding  with  facility,  and  governing  with 
universal  compliance.  The  centurion,  however,  would  not 
listen  to  Paul,  but  rather  "  believed  the  master  and  owner 
of  the  ship,"  both  of  whom  were  anxious  to  get  to  the  end 
of  the  journey.  They  had  lain  long  wind-bound  at  Fair 
Havens,  but  it  was  not  a  good  winter  station,  and  the 
greater  part  joined  in  opinion  with  the  captain  and  super- 
cargo, hoping  to  get  to  Phcenice,  about  forty  miles  west, 
and  a  more  commodious  roadstead  to  winter  in,  as  from  its 
position  it  was  secured  from  the  prevailing  storms.  They 
seem  now  to  have  given  up  all  hope  of  reaching  Rom1- 
before  next  spring ;  but  on  a  favourable  change  of  breeze, 
when  the  "south  wind  blew  softly,"  they  made  for 
Phcenice  which  lay  to  the  north-west,  and,  hugging  the 
shore,  "  sailed  close  by  Crete."  But  they  were  soon  over- 
taken by  a  hurricane,  blowing  down  from  the  highlands  of 
the  coast,  and  called  Euroclydon — perhaps  more  correctly 
Euroaquilo — or  a  north-east  wind.  The  adjective  rendered 
tempestuous  is  in  the  original  "typhonic,"  or  like  a 
typhoon,  the  tempest  which  is  accompanied  by  whirlwinds 


THE   STORM.  427 

driving  the  clouds  in  circling  conflict,  and  raising  the  sea 
in  columns  of  spray.  The  ship  was  caught  in  the  squall, 
and  "  could  not  bear  up  into  it,"  literally,  look  it  in  the 
eye,  and  was  therefore  forced  to  scud  before  it.  "  Running 
under  "  the  islet  of  Clauda,  they  "  had  much  work  to  come 
by  the  boat,"  that  is,  taking  advantage  of  the  smooth  water 
under  the  lee  of  the  island,  with  difficulty  they  hoisted  on 
board  the  boat  which  was  usually  towed  behind  the  ship, 
showing  that  they  were  preparing  to  resist  the  storm.  Then 
they  used  "helps,"  " undergirding  the  ship,"  a  common 
precaution  in  those  times,  passing  a  stout  cable  several  times 
round  the  hull,  so  as  to  tighten  the  planks  which  might  be 
strained  by  the  heavy  seas.  Being  driven  still  to  the 
south-west,  and  being  naturally  afraid  of  falling  "  into  the 
quicksands,"  or  the  shoals  of  the  Syrtis  on  the  northern 
shore  of  Africa,  they  straJce  sail — rather,  lowered  the 
mainyard  and  its  sail — and  "so  were  driven,"  keeping 
the  ship's  head  off  shore,  and  her  right  side  to  the 
wind.  The  tempest  did  not  abate,  and  the  next  day  they 
"  lightened  "  her — threw  out  a  portion  of  the  cargo.  But 
the  danger  still  increasing,  "  we  cast  out  with  our  own 
hands  the  tackling  of  the  ship " — all  portions  of  the 
heavy  gear  or  rigging — others,  according  to  this  reading, 
beside  the  crew  being  employed  in  the  work,  or  the 
apostle  himself  and  Luke  putting  a  hand  to  the  labour. 
In  a  short  time  such  a  vessel  must  have  foundered  and 
gone  down,  a  common  fate  with  ancient  ships.  The  sky 
had  closed  dark  and  angry  around  them,  and  "neither 
sun  nor  stars  in  many  days  appeared,"  while  the  gale 
increased  in  fury,  and  they  abandoned  hope ;  for  the  ship 


428        PAUL  ON  THE  VOYAGE  TO  ROME. 

was  leaking,  and  they  could  not  tell  where  they  were,  on 
what  coast  they  might  be  driven,  or  how  long  the  opening 
timbers  would  resist  the  violence  of  the  waves.  The 
darkness  of  night  was  above  them,  with  a  raging  sea  around 
them,  and  the  labouring  bark,  though  frapped  and  eased  of 
its  heavier  freight  and  furniture,  was  drifting  helplessly 
before  the  wind. 

In  this  crisis  of  dismay  and  danger,  the  voice  which  had 
warned  them  at  Fair  Havens  was  heard  again.  And  the 
apostle  now  spoke  from  divine  authority.  We  know  not 
what  were  the  feelings  of  the  passengers,  or  how  they 
expressed  them,  though  we  can  well  imagine  the  confusion 
and  fear  among  two  hundred  and  seventy- six  persons 
during  a  tempest  of  such  force  and  duration.  Perhaps,  as 
in  Jonah's  voyage,  they  cried  every  man  to  his  god,  and 
bethought  themselves  of  Paul's  early  counsel.  As  "  the  sea 
wrought  and  was  tempestuous,"  the  master  might  exhaust 
his  skill,  and  the  centurion  betake  himself  to  Neptune,  but 
Paul  resorted  to  secret  prayer  to  Him  who  "  commandeth 
and  raiseth  the  stormy  wind  which  lifteth  up  the  waves." 
They  would  not  listen  to  his  advice,  and  the  hurricane 
had  enveloped  them  ;  but  still  he  prayed  for  them,  and  he 
received  all  their  lives  as  a  gift  in  answer  to  his  inter- 
cession. So  richly  fraught  with  comfort,  he  stood  forth 
to  cheer  and  animate  them,  for  they  were  exhausted  with 
toil,  terror,  and  fasting.  He  reminds  them  first  of  his 
previous  warning,  which  they  had  slighted — not  to 
upbraid  them  indeed,  nor  even  to  elicit  the  conclusion 
that  he  was  a  true  prophet,  but  to  show  them  that  he 
had  spoken  not  from  opinion,  but  from  certain  knowledge, 


THE  VISION.  429 

and  that,  therefore,  what  he  was  now  to  say  demanded 
credence — "  And  now,  I  exhort  you  to  be  of  good  cheer : 
for  there  shall  be  no  loss  of  any  man's  life  among  you,  but 
of  the  ship.  For  there  stood  by  me  this  night  the  angel  of 
God,  whose  I  am,  and  whom  I  serve,  saying,  Fear  not, 
Paul ;  thou  must  be  brought  before  Caesar :  and,  lo,  God 
hath  given  thee  all  them  that  sail  with  thee.  Wherefore, 
sirs,  be  of  good  cheer ;  for  I  believe  God,  that  it  shall  be 
even  as  it  was  told  me.  Howbeit,  we  must  be  cast  upon  a 
certain  island." 

The  brief  speech  is  remarkable;  the  Master,  by  an 
angel,  had  appeared  in  the  crisis  to  reassure  His  servant. 
The  apostle  does  not  disguise  his  position — "Whose  I 
am,  and  whom  I  serve" — and  the  language  shows  why 
such  a  vision  had  been  vouchsafed  to  him.  Had  there 
been  five  righteous  persons  in  Sodom  it  would  have 
been  saved,  and  for  Paul's  sake  the  lives  of  all  his  fellow- 
passengers  are  preserved.  He  had  appealed  to  Caesar, 
and  the  appeal  must  be  heard.  He  was  the  principal 
person  on  board,  and  invested  with  peculiar  dignity.  The 
ship  is  his  by  God's  charter.  Her  cargo  may  be  cast 
into  the  sea,  and  the  ship  herself  be  lost,  but  the  apostle 
must  get  to  Rome.  "  God  hath  given  thee  all  them  that 
sail  with  thee" — their  life;  that  of  nigh  three  hundred 
persons  was  bound  up  in  his  life.  The  effect  of  such  a 
speech  at  such  a  time  may  be  easily  conceived.  It  was 
no  flattering  prophecy  which  he  uttered.  He  made  no 
attempt  to  buoy  up  their  spirits  by  predicting  that  the 
storm  was  approaching  its  end,  that  the  clouds  were 
breaking,  or  that  the  wind  was  veering.  There  is  a 


430        PAUL  ON  THE  VOYAGE  TO  EOME. 

distinct  assurance  of  safety,  but  as  distinct  an  assurance  of 
wreck.  They  should  not  founder,  or  be  engulphed  among 
the  quicksands  they  dreaded,  but  they  must  be  driven 
ashore,  and  that  "  upon  a  certain  island.'7  The  prophecy 
was  minute  and  circumstantial,  and  could  not  but  impress 
them  who  listened  to  it.  If  they  rejoiced  in  safety,  they 
must  have  rejoiced  with  trembling  when  they  thought 
that  they  were  to  be  cast  away  in  the  storm.  It  was 
life  in  the  midst  of  destruction  which  was  pledged  to  them 
— they  were  to  be  snatched  from  a  watery  grave.  Deliver- 
ance was  not  to  come  from  God's  stilling  the  "  noise  of  the 
seas,"  but  the  turbulent  surges  were  to  throw  the  ship  on 
land,  and  break  her  to  pieces  in  their  fury. 

It  was  now  the  fourteenth  night  since  they  had  left 
Fair  Havens  in  Crete,  and  they  were  still  tossed  about  in 
the  Adriatic — "  They  mount  up  to  the  heaven,  they  go 
down  again  to  the  depths ;  their  soul  is  melted  because  of 
trouble.  They  reel  to  and  fro,  and  stagger  like  a  drunken 
man,  and  are  at  their  wit's  end."  Unable  to  ascertain 
their  position,  "  about  midnight  the  shipmen  deemed  that 
they  drew  near  to  some  country " — literally,  that  some 
country  drew  near  to  them — -common  but  graphic  nautical 
language,  in  which  land  rises  or  sinks,  comes  near  or  dis- 
appears. The  shipmen — seamen — came  to  this  conclusion, 
as  they  could  from  many  signs  unperceived  by  soldiers, 
prisoners,  and  passengers,  such  as  the  noise  of  breakers 
rising  above  the  sound  of  the  storm.  Fearful  of  the  close 
proximity  of  the  shore,  "they  sounded,  and  found  its 
depth  twenty  fathoms;"  and  in  a  short  time,  heaving  the 
lead  again,  "  they  found  it  fifteen  fathoms."  This  rapid 


RIDING  AT  ANCHOR.  431 

shallowing  alarmed  them,  and  they  feared  to  be  dashed  on 
the  rocks  over  which  the  waves  were  breaking.  To  stay 
the  progress  of  the  ship,  and  keep  her  if  possible  in  her 
present  position,  they  cast  four  anchors  out  of  the  stern — 
not  an  unusual  fashion  in  ancient  navigation.  On  that 
coast  the  land  is  too  low  to  be  seen,  though  the  breakers 
might  be  both  audible  and  visible ;  and  soundings  of  simi- 
lar depth  are  yet  found  by  mariners  in  the  same  locality. 
The  alarmed  inmates  of  the  ship,  groaning  "  in  the  sides  " 
or  crowded  upon  deck,  now  anxiously  waited  for  the  day. 
They  might  go  down  at  their  anchors,  unable  to  ride  out 
the  gale  if  it  increased ;  and  they  could  not  tell  the  nature 
of  the  coast  till  morning  broke.  Their  purpose  now  was  to 
strand  the  ship,  and  she  was  anchored  so  that  her  head  was 
to  the  land,  but  they  could  not  tell  whether  there  might  be 
a  beach  which  should  afford  them  the  opportunity.  In  this 
moment  of  awful  suspense,  when  wreck  was  certain,  and 
the  object  was  to  be  prepared  for  it,  the  sailors  lost  heart, 
and  would  have  deserted  the  vessel.  They  pretended  that 
it  was  necessary  to  lower  the  boat,  which  some  days  before 
they  had  taken  in  with  difficulty,  for  the  ostensible  purpose 
of  carrying  out  anchors  from  the  prow  to  steady  the  pitch- 
ing vessel.  This  manoeuvre  shows  how  critical  they 
reckoned  their  situation — when,  in  such  a  night  of  gloom 
and  tempest,  they  would  take  to  the  boat  which  could 
scarcely  be  expected  to  live  in  such  a  sea.  Their  purpose, 
as  they  had  the  working  of  the  ship,  could  not  be  easily 
detected  by  the  landsmen,  whom  they  would  have  so 
selfishly  abandoned. 

But  there  was  one  on  board  who  had  the  gift  of  discern- 


432        PAUL  ON  THE  VOYAGE  TO  ROME. 

ing  spirits.  He  divined  the  treachery,  and  for  the  third 
time  spoke.  His  stern  words  were — "  Unless  these  abide 
in  the  ship,  ye  cannot  be  saved."  He  had  already  assured 
them  of  safety ;  but  that  safety  so  absolutely  promised 
depended  upon  means.  They  were  to  run  the  ship 
ashore  as  soon  as  it  was  day ;  and  the  operation  could  not 
be  done  except  by  the  practised  seamen,  who  alone  could 
handle  the  vessel  so  as  that  she  might  be  carried  to  the 
most  promising  part  of  the  beach,  and  as  high  on  the  beach 
as  possible.  Neither  the  soldiers  nor  the  landsmen  on 
board  could  be  depended  on  for  this  difficult  task.  The 
soldiers  at  once,  on  hearing  Paul  speak  in  such  a  tone,  cut 
the  ropes  by  which  the  sailors  were  lowering  the  boat,  and 
it  fell  into  the  sea,  and  was  either  capsized  or  drifted  away. 
From  this  period  till  day  began  to  appear,  the  apostle  was 
exhorting  them  all  to  take  food.  The  crisis  was  at  hand, 
and  it  would  need  all  their  strength  and  presence  of  mind 
to  take  advantage  of  it.  The  last  desperate  effort  to  save 
their  lives  by  swimming  or  floating  on  broken  spars  was  to 
be  made,  and  it  must  not  be  made  by  them  in  a  dull  and 
exhausted  state.  The  apostle  had  special  care  of  them,  for 
their  lives  were  given  him ;  and  he  who  could  discourse  as 
he  had  done  before  Felix,  Festus,  and  Agrippa,  can  descend 
to  speak  of  common  duty,  and  inculcate  obedience  to  physi- 
cal law.  His  topic  had  been  usually  the  salvation  of  the  soul, 
but  now  it  is  the  preservation  of  life ;  it  had  been  generally 
the  deliverance  of  their  spirits  from  hell,  but  now  it  is  the 
rescue  of  their  persons  from  a  watery  grave.  The  great 
and  the  little,  the  mighty  and  the  minute,  the  spiritual  and 
the  temporal,  dietetic  necessity  and  evangelical  enterprise, 


PEESENCE  OP  MIND.  433 

were  equally  within  his  grasp.  Raising  his  voice  above 
the  storm,  he  said  to  his  fellow-voyagers,  and  it  was  his 
fourth  utterance — "  The  fourteenth  day  ye  this  day  com- 
plete without  food,  expecting  (the  storm  to  abate),  and 
having  taken  nothing.  Wherefore  I  exhort  you  to  partake 
of  food,  for  this  is  for  your  safety,  for  of  none  of  you  shall 
there  fall  a  hair  from  the  head.  And  when  he  had  thus 
spoken,  he  took  bread,  and  gave  thanks  to  God  in  presence 
of  them  all ;  and  when  he  had  broken  it,  he  began  to  eat. 
Then  were  they  all  of  good  cheer,  and  they  also  took  some 
meat.  And  we  were  in  all  in  the  ship  two  hundred  three- 
score and  sixteen  souls."  The  apostle  now  stands  out  the 
commander  of  the  ship,  the  guiding  spirit  in  the  emer- 
gency— her  officers  and  crew  are  passive  and  helpless. 
For  a  fortnight  they  had  had  no  regular  meals — the  usual 
result  of  a  hurricane  ;  and  day  after  day  they  had  been 
looking  for  it  to  moderate.  But  as  the  moment  of  danger 
and  deliverance  was  at  hand,  they  were  to  strengthen 
themselves  by  food,  and  rest  assured  of  ultimate  safety. 
Displaying  his  lofty  presence  of  mind,  he  set  the  example, 
gave  thanks — for  this  brief  service  was  not  to  be  forgotten 
— and  began  to  eat.  His  words  cheered  them  all,  and 
there  were  many  of  them — for  the  store  ships  were  large 
and  roomy,  and  the  trade  between  Egypt  and  Eome  was 
great  and  constant. 

That  they  might  run  the  ship  as  high  upon  the  beach 
as  possible,  they  lightened  her  again,  and  cast  out  the 
wheat  into  the  sea — the  remainder  of  her  cargo.  As  day 
broke,  they  could  not  tell  where  they  were,  but  they 

discovered  a  bay,  not  rocky  and  bold,  but  having  a  shore 

2  E 


434        PAUL  ON  THE  VOYAGE  TO  ROME. 

— sandy  beach — and  on  it  they  resolved  to  run  the  ship. 
For  this  purpose,  and  to  lose  no  time,  they  cut  away  the 
anchors  and  left  them  in  the  sea;  at  the  same  time^  as 
ancient  ships  were  steered  by  two  large  paddles  or  oars, 
one  on  each  quarter,  which  in  this  case  had  been  lashed 
away  while  the  ship  lay  at  anchor  by  the  stern,  they 
loosed  these  "rudder-bands,"  when  she  got  under  way; 
and  that  she  might  be  steered  to  the  likeliest  spot,  they  also 
hoisted  the  foresail,  and  "  made  toward  shore."  "  Falling 
into  a  place  where  two  seas  met/'  or  a  narrow  channel 
between  two  portions  of  the  sea — between  the  island  of 
Salmonetta  and  the  larger  island  of  Malta — they  succeeded 
in  stranding  the  ship ;  and  the  sharp  prow  being  forced  into 
the  tenacious  clay  and  mud  of  the  beach,  "  stuck  fast  and 
remained  immoveable ; "  but  the  stern  was  broken  by  the 
billows  which  so  violently  struck  it  and  washed  over  it. 
The  anxiety  and  consternation  at  the  first  shock  must  have 
been  great,  as  each  looked  to  the  readiest  means  of  safety. 
The  sternness  of  Koman  discipline  next  showed  itself 
amidst  the  confusion,  and  the  soldiers  proposed  "  to  kill  the 
prisoners,  lest  any  should  swim  out  and  escape."  Had  not 
Paul  been  among  them,  a  military  execution  might  have 
ensued ;  but  the  centurion  was  willing  to  save  him,  and 
the  other  prisoners  were  saved  along  with  him — for  as  he 
had  said  already,  God  had  given  him  the  lives  of  all  on 
board.  In  fact,  Paul  was  invulnerable,  and  the  military 
counsel  was  folly.  The  sailors,  in  selfish  panic,  would 
leave  the  ship,  but  they  cannot;  the  soldiers  would  slay  the 
prisoners  ere  they  secured  their  own  safety,  but  they  dare 
not  shed  a  drop  of  blood.  The  centurion  then  gave  orders 


ULTIMATE  SAFETY.  435 

that  all  should  make  for  the  shore ;  that  those  "  which 
could  swim  should  cast  themselves  first  into  the  sea;"  and 
that  the  rest  should  float  themselves  through  the  surf  on 
boards — deck  planks,  or  any  suitable  portion  of  the  wreck. 
His  commands  were  obeyed,  and  the  divine  pledge  was 
fulfilled — "  and  so  it  came  to  pass,  that  they  escaped  all 
safe  to  land." 


XVIII.— PAUL  IN  EOME. 


ACTS  XXVHI.;  EPHES.  m.  1;  vi.  20;  PHIL.  i.  12 — 14;  iv.  22;  COLOSS.  iv.  18; 
PHILEMON  9 — 13. 


THE  island  on  which  the  ship  had  been  cast  was  Malta, 
and  the  entire  account  of  the  voyage  and  of  the  storm 
confirms  the  statement.  The  rain  was  pouring  down  in 
torrents ;  the  weather  was  intensely  cold ;  and  the  wet  and 
shivering  voyagers  were  kindly  received  by  the  natives, 
called  "barbarians,"  as  not  being  of  Greek  descent,  but 
a  Punic  colony.  "They  kindled  a  fire  and  received  us 
every  one."  The  apostle,  having  saved  his  fellow-travellers 
from  death,  exerted  himself  for  their  comfort,  and  helped 
to  keep  up  the  fire  by  gathering  fuel;  but  in  arranging 
a  bundle  of  sticks  on  the  burning  heap,  a  viper,  roused 
from  its  torpor,  glided  "  out  of  the  heat  and  fastened 
on  his  hand."  The  native  onlookers  expected  instant 
death  for  him.  They  knew  the  viper's  bite  to  be  mortal ; 
observing  Paul  to  be  a  prisoner,  they  concluded  that 
some  heavy  crime  lay  upon  him  ;  and  seeing  in  the  event 
a  retributive  providence,  "they  said  among  themselves — 
No  doubt  this  man  is  a  murderer,  whom,  though  he  hath 
escaped  the  sea,  yet  vengeance  suffer eth  not  to  live"- 
rather,  suffered;  for  in  their  estimation  he  was  already  dead. 
But  the  apostle  shook  the  beast  off  his  hand  into  the  fire, 
and  "felt  no  harm."  The  rude  spectators,  seeing  it  "hang 
on  his  hand"  and  in  the  attitude  of  biting  him,  and  know- 


MIRACLES    OF    HEALING.  437 

ing  what  venom  was  in  its  bite,  at  once  "  changed  their 
minds 5 "  and  since  he  had  not  "swollen  or  fallen  down 
dead  suddenly,"  as  they  most  surely  looked  for  and  con- 
tinued to  anticipate,  they  thought  him  more  than  man,  and 
concluded  "that  he  was  a  god" — so  contrary  was  the  result 
to  all  their  experience.  And  yet  it  was  in  conformity  with 
the  Lord's  promise  before  He  ascended — "  They  shall  take 
up  serpents"  without  hurt.  Strange  were  the  reverses  in 
the  apostle's  history.  The  people  of  Lystra  first  took  him 
for  a  god,  and  then  with  sudden  freak  stoned  him  as  an 
enemy  of  the  gods.  The  Maltese  first  suspect  him  to  be  a 
murderer,  and  then  capriciously  exalt  him  into  a  divinity. 
The  apostle  was  "lodged  three  days  courteously"  by 
Publius  the  "chief  man,"  who  may  have  been  the  governor 
of  the  island,  as  lieutenant  under  the  praetor  of  Sicily ;  and 
he  repaid  this  hospitality  by  effecting  a  miraculous  cure  on 
his  father — "  he  entered  in  and  prayed,  and  laid  his  hands 
on  him,  and  healed  him."  The  prayer  of  Paul  superseded 
the  prescriptions  of  Luke  the  physician.  The  report  of 
the  miracle  spread  through  Malta,  and  other  invalids  were 
healed.  The  consequence  was  that  the  grateful  islanders 
showed  the  apostle  and  his  friends  uncommon  attention, 
and  "  when  they  departed,  laded  them  with  such  things  as 
were  necessary"  for  health  and  comfort  during  the  rest  of 
the  voyage.  After  a  sojourn  of  three  months  they  embarked 
in  a  ship  which,  like  that  which  had  been  wrecked,  was 
of  Alexandria,  and  bore  on  its  prow  a  figure-head  of 
Castor  and  Pollux — the  tutelary  twin-gods  of  sailors.  The 
ship  soon  came  to  Syracuse — the  capital  of  Sicily — a  dis- 
tance of  eighty  miles,  and  waited  there  three  days.  On 


438  PAUL  IN   ROME. 

leaving  Syracuse,  the  wind  being  unfavourable,  they  fetched 
a  compass — were  obliged  to  tack — as  they  came  to  Rhegium, 
on  the  south-west  point  of  Italy.  A  day  seems  to  have 
been  spent  there  in  waiting  for  a  favourable  breeze ;  then  a 
"  south  wind  "  sprang  up,  and  they  ran  in  a  day  a  hundred 
and  eighty-two  miles  to  Puteoli,  in  a  sheltered  part  of  the 
bay  of  Naples,  and  the  great  harbour  of  southern  Italy  and 
of  the  Alexandrian  grain-ships.  "  Brethren  "  were  found 
in  this  busy  emporium,  and  after  a  week's  stay  with  them 
the  landward  journey  to  Eome  was  commenced.  Many 
Christians  in  Rome,  on  hearing  of  the  apostle's  progress,  set 
out  to  meet  him  along  the  Via  Appia  ;  some  proceeding  as 
far  as  the  Appii  Forum — about  forty  miles  from  the  capital 
— and  others  only  as  far  as  the  Tres  Tabernae,  about  ten 
miles  nearer  it.  The  heart  of  the  apostle  was  cheered 
when  he  saw  the  men  who  had  come  so  far  to  welcome 
him — Christians  from  the  world's  centre  and  metropolis — 
and  he  "thanked  God  and  took  courage."  His  sensitive 
spirit  was  cheered  by  this  sympathy.  On  entering  Rome, 
Paul  was,  as  a  prisoner,  handed  over  to  the  captain  of  the 
guard — the  prefect  of  the  life-guards  or  praetorian  camp — 
probably  Burrusj  but  he  was  not  put  in  strict  confinement, 
being  suffered  to  dwell  by  himself  with  a  soldier  that  kept 
him,  and  to  whom  he  was  chained.  The  despatch  of 
Festus  and  the  report  of  Julius  may  have  led  to  this 
lenity. 

But,  in  Rome  as  elsewhere,  the  apostle  could  not  be 
idle.  He  had  come  to  Rome  after  being  before  the  san- 
hedrim, and  he  did  not  know  what  reports  of  the  procedure 
might  have  reached  the  capital.  He  wished  to  stand  well 


ADDRESS   TO   THE  JEWS.  439 

with  his  countrymen,  and  was  anxious  that  no  prejudice 
against  himself  should  impede  the  reception  of  the  gospel 
which  he  preached.  He  had  appealed  to  them  in  every 
city  of  Asia  which  he  had  visited,  and  they  had  thwarted 
his  message  and  sought  his  life.  "  When  shall  he  die,  and 
his  name  perish?"  was  their  daily  question,  and  they  often 
sought  to  shorten  the  term  of  suspense.  And  now,  after 
a  tedious  and  dangerous  voyage  to  Rome,  he  allows  only 
three  days  to  elapse  before  he  assembles  the  representatives 
of  his  people.  He  was  not  at  liberty  so  as  to  enter  their 
synagogue,  but  he  invites  them  to  his  residence,  and  thus 
addressed  them  — "  Men-brethren,  though  I  have  done 
nothing  hostile  to  the  people,  nor  to  the  customs  of  the 
fathers,  yet  as  a  prisoner  from  Jerusalem  was  I  delivered 
into  the  hands  of  the  Romans,  who,  when  they  had  ex- 
amined me,  would  have  released  me,  because  there  was  no 
cause  of  death  in  me.  But  the  Jews  opposing  it,  I  was 
forced  to  appeal  to  Caesar,  not  as  having  anything  to  charge 
my  nation  with.  On  this  account,  therefore,  I  have  called 
you  to  me,  to  see  you  and  to  speak  with  you ;  for  because 
of  the  hope  of  Israel  I  am  surrounded  with  this  chain." 

Thus  the  apostle  states  his  general  purpose  of  the  inter- 
view. He  protests  his  innocence,  and  asserts  that  none  of 
the  charges  brought  against  him  were  true.  He  had  done 
nothing  against  his  people,  either  from  want  of  patriotism 
or  in  spiteful  revenge  of  their  treatment  of  him.  No  part 
of  his  conduct  was  dictated  by  hostility  toward  them.  He 
had  neither  flattered  nor  betrayed  them.  His  entire  career 
showed  how  profoundly  he  loved  them,  and  how  devoted 
he  had  been  to  their  spiritual  welfare.  But  they  misinter- 


440  PAUL  IN   ROME. 

preted  his  message,  and  had  from  error  become  provoked 
at  him.  For  nothing  he  had  proposed  would  abridge  their 
national  or  spiritual  privileges,  but  would  rather  expand 
them.  What  he  had  done  and  suffered  was  for  his  people, 
for  their  highest  interest — that  they  might  realize  their 
destiny,  and  apprehend  their  theocratic  relation,  as  it  had 
been  confirmed  and  developed  by  the  Messiah  through 
whom  the  old  oracle  would  be  verified — "Ye  shall  be 
named  the  Priests  of  the  Lord:  men  shall  call  you  the 
Ministers  of  our  God :  ye  shall  eat  the  riches  of  the  Gen- 
tiles, and  in  their  glory  shall  ye  boast  yourselves." 

Nor  had  he  done  anything  "  against  the  customs  of  the 
fathers."  The  old  institutions  were  yet  revered  by  him, 
though  he  did  not  regard  the  observance  of  them  as  essential 
to  salvation.  He  did  not  labour  to  induce  men  to  forsake 
the  temple,  but  to  worship  Him  who  as  its  Lord  had  become 
incarnate.  His  object  was  not  to  get  men  to  desert  the 
"holy  convocations,"  but  to  show  that  those  assemblies 
had  a  definite  typical  purpose  which  they  should  recognize ; 
for  the  Paschal  Lamb  had  been  slain,  and  the  Spirit  had 
been  poured  out,  and  the  first-fruits  had  been  presented. 
He  did  not  preach  that  men  should  turn  their  back  upon 
the  altar,  but  that  they  should  betake  them  to  the  blood  of 
the  great  victim  slain  in  these  last  times  for  them.  The 
"customs"  in  themselves  he  did  not  despise,  but  his  object 
was  to  teach  men  to  honour  them  by  receiving  the  truths 
which  they  imaged,  and  the  blessings  which  they  fore- 
showed. He  had  acted  in  unison  with  the  Mosaic  institute 
in  accepting  and  preaching  the  Christ;  for  he  had  only 
done  as  David  had  taught,  and  the  entire  dispensation  had 


NECESSITY  OF  HIS  APPEAL.  441 

prescribed.  Christianity  was  to  him  not  the  rival,  but  the 
successor  of  Judaism — not  its  substitute,  but  its  consumma- 
tion. This  is  what  he  has  said  already  in  various  forms 
in  his  previous  defences  in  Judea. 

But  the  Jews  had  delivered  him  into  the  hands  of  the 
Eomans — that  at  least  was  the  spirit  of  the  transactions. 
They  seized  him  to  kill  him,  and  the  Roman  power  rescued 
him.  He  had  stood  before  their  tribunal,  but  the  council 
broke  into  tumult.  His  Eoman  judges  would  have 
acquitted  him  as  not  guilty  ;  but  the  Jews  withstood  such 
an  issue,  proposing  a  new  trial  for  the  purpose  of  getting 
his  person  into  their  hands.  As  a  stop  to  such  injustice 
he  had  appealed  to  Caesar,  not  to  complain  against  the 
nation  before  the  emperor.  His  act  in  appealing  was 
simply  defensive,  and  he  was  shut  up  to  the  necessity  of 
doing  it.  It  involved  no  charge  against  the  Jews,  and  it  did 
not  bring  their  conduct  under  review.  The  apostle  seems 
to  think  that  they  might  suspect  this,  or  might  have  received 
such  information.  This  being  the  state  of  matters,  his 
appeal  being  forced  upon  him  in  self- vindication,  he  had 
sent  for  them;  for  he  was  one  of  them,  attached  to  his 
people  in  every  land.  And  there  was  an  additional  reason 
— the  chain  upon  his  arm  was  the  result  of  his  attachment 
to  the  hope  of  Israel.  The  Messiah  was  the  hope  of  Israel, 
and  had  been  so  for  centuries.  Israel  ever  looked  to  the 
future,  and  lived  in  it,  and  longed  and  prayed  for  the  pre- 
dicted time  to  come.  Every  Jew  had  this  hope  set  before 
him,  and  every  consistent  Jew  should  embrace  it  when 
presented.  He  is  no  renegade  who  embraces  Messiah ; 
rather  he  is  the  apostate  who  refuses  Him,  and  casts 


442  PAUL  IN   ROME. 

dishonour  upon  seer  and  altar — the  seer  who  announced 
and  the  altar  which  prefigured  Him.  The  apostle  means 
to  say  that  it  was  his  consistent  and  enlightened  Judaism 
which  had  led  to  his  apprehension  and  trial. 

The  reply  of  the  Jews  is  brief — "  They  said  unto  him, 
We  neither  received  letters  out  of  Judea  concerning  thee, 
neither  any  of  the  brethren  that  came  showed  or  spake  any 
harm  of  thee.  But  we  desire  to  hear  of  thee  what  thou 
thinkest :  for  as  concerning  this  sect,  we  know  that  every- 
where it  is  spoken  against." 

Some  suppose  that  the  chief  of  the  Jews  told  a  delibe- 
rate falsehood  to  the  apostle,  as  they  did  not  wish  to  be 
entangled  in  the  dispute.  But  perhaps  the  meaning  is — 
that  they  really  had  received  no  oral  or  written  information 
about  the  nature  and  grounds  of  the  apostle's  appeal.  He 
had  departed  for  Eome  immediately  after  the  appeal  had 
been  taken ;  and  the  storm  which  had  overtaken  him  would 
in  all  likelihood  have  detained  any  other  ship  in  the  same 
seas.  Then  he  had  left  Malta  at  the  very  earliest  oppor- 
tunity, and  had  arrived  at  Puteoli  before  any  ship  leaving 
Judea  in  spring  could  have  reached  it.  The  Jews  did  not 
dream  of  the  cause  ending  in  an  appeal,  and  so  may  have 
sent  no  despatch  to  their  countrymen  in  Home  about  it. 
As  may  perhaps  be  inferred  from  a  remark  of  Suetonius, 
it  was  the  turbulence  of  the  Jews  in  their  assault  upon  the 
Christians  that  had  led  to  their  banishment  under  the 
previous  emperor,  and  they  were,  therefore,  very  timorous 
now,  lest  they  should  be  involved  in  a  second  peril.  The 
persons  summoned  by  the  apostle  could  not  but  see  the 
favour  with  which  he  was  treated,  and  therefore  they 


SECT  EVERYWHERE  SPOKEN   AGAINST.  443 

abstained  from  bringing  any  charge  against  him  on  their  own 
authority;  though  their  obedience  to  his  summons  shows 
that  they  were  by  no  means  ignorant  of  his  history  and 
functions.  They,  therefore,  quietly  ask  him  to  speak  on 
the  great  controversy.  Waiving  all  conversation  about  his 
legal  position,  they  inquire  as  to  his  theology ;  such  inquiry 
being  professedly  prompted  by  their  knowledge  that  Chris- 
tianity was  everywhere  spoken  against.  They  admit  that 
their  prepossessions  are  against  the  faith  which  the  apostle 
preached  j  for  it  was  universally  cried  down  and  opposed. 
If  these  words  signify  that  this  was  all  they  knew  about 
Christianity,  then  they  must  have  spoken  in  extreme 
caution,  high  contempt,  or  gross  dissimulation;  for  there 
was  a  large  and  flourishing  church  at  Rome,  comprising  in 
its  membership  many  Jews.  Or,  perhaps,  they  mean  to 
insinuate  that  their  brethren  in  Judea  may  be  presumed  to 
be  right,  from  the  universal  obloquy  in  which  Christianity 
was  held ;  but  since  they  had  one  before  them  so  noto- 
riously connected  with  its  spread,  they  should  deem  it  their 
duty  to  listen  to  his  account.  They  appointed  a  day  to 
meet  with  him ;  many — more  than  on  the  previous  occasion 
came,  and  the  discussion  lasted  a  whole  day  in  the  apostle's 
lodging. 

There  he  resumed  his  old  work — did  what  he  had  done 
at  Thessalonica  and  Berea,  at  Ephesus  and  Corinth.  "  He 
expounded  and  testified  the  kingdom  of  God  ; "  that  is,  in 
explaining  it,  he  proved  it  —  evidence  and  information 
being  interlaced.  In  opening  up  its  nature,  he  argued  its 
truth.  In  telling  its  character,  he  demonstrated  the  reality 
of  its  existence.  As  he  unfolded  what  the  prophets  had 


444  PAUL   IN  KOME. 

predicted  of  Messiah's  reign,  he  at  the  same  attested  that 
it  had  come  to  pass.  The  point  on  which  all  his  illustra- 
tions converged  was  this — "persuading  them  concerning 
Jesus,"  that  He  was  the  Head  of  this  kingdom,  the  pro- 
mised Deliverer.  For  Jesus  was  the  predicted  Messiah — 
all  the  olden  oracles  met  in  Him.  Israel  had  ever  looked 
into  the  future,  and  the  hope  of  Messiah  was  the  star  that 
shone  through  the  night  of  ages.  Their  whole  history 
pointed  to  His  coming,  and  was  adapted  to  it.  For  this 
had  they  been  organized,  and  the  destinies  of  humanity 
committed  to  them;  since  the  "Desire  of  all  nations"  was  to 
be  one  of  them,  born  and  proclaimed  in  the  midst  of  them. 
The  apostle  wished  them  to  realize  their  honour  as  the 
source  of  the  world's  life.  His  proofs  were  no  extraneous 
arguments ;  he  did  not  adduce  probabilities  or  dwell  upon 
ingenious  deductions,  but  fetched  evidence  directly  from 
their  own  scriptures,  "  both  out  of  the  law  of  Moses  and 
out  of  the  prophets."  His  object  was  to  show  that  the 
honest  interpretation  of  the  Pentateuch,  as  it  is  followed 
up  and  illustrated  by  the  prophetical  books,  should  lead 
them  to  believe  that  the  Messiah  must  have  come,  and  that 
Jesus,  in  time  and  place  of  birth,  in  qualification,  character, 
work,  suffering,  and  glory,  must  be  that  Messiah.  The 
power  and  eloquence  with  which  Paul  could  press  and 
demonstrate  this,  after  such  experience  in  the  work,  may 
be  easily  conceived.  But  the  cross  was  a  stumbling-block 
here  as  elsewhere,  in  Italy  not  less  than  in  Judea;  and 
while  "  some  believed,  others  believed  not." 

These  solemn  colloquies  of  the  apostle  produced  discord. 
It  had  been   so  in  many  places  before.     Jewish  nature 


JEWISH   UNBELIEF.  445 

was  not  softened  by  an  Italian  climate — the  majority  of 
them  remained  unconvinced.  Ere  they  departed,  and  just 
as  they  were  going,  the  apostle  seized  the  solemn  oppor- 
tunity to  say  "  one  word  " — one  final  word,  a  farewell 
pregnant  with  doom.  It  is  the  sad  epilogue — the  conclusion 
of  his  last  address  to  his  unbelieving  kinsmen  according 
to  the  flesh — the  last  of  his  speeches  recorded  to  us  b«" 
the  Spirit  of  God.  It  must  have  been  in  deep  heaviness 
and  sorrow  of  heart  that  he  uttered  it.  It  was  wrung 
from  him,  and  it  sealed  the  fate  of  ancient  Israel,  for  it 
identified  their  characters  with  that  of  their  fathers — 
"  Well  "—that  is,  truly—"  spake  the  Holy  Ghost  by  Esaias 
the  prophet  unto  our  fathers  " — rather,  your  fathers,  for  he 
severs  himself  from  them.  Ye  are  their  true  descendants 
— inheritors  of  their  character  and  destiny.  What  Isaiah 
said  to  them  may  be  repeated  still  to  you,  for  it  is  equally 
applicable  to  you.  The  message  is  a  terrible  one — 
"  Go  unto  this  people,  and  say,  Hearing  ye  shall  hear,  and 
shall  not  understand;  and  seeing  ye  shall  see,  and  not 
perceive :  for  the  heart  of  this  people  is  waxed  gross,  and 
their  ears  are  dull  of  hearing,  and  their  eyes  have  they 
closed ;  lest  they  should  see  with  their  eyes,  and  hear  with 
their  ears,  and  understand  with  their  heart,  and  should  be 
converted,  and  I  should  heal  them." 

The  quotation  is  from  the  sixth  chapter  of  Isaiah.  The 
prophet  sees  Jehovah  on  His  "  throne,  high  and  lifted  up," 
guarded  and  worshipped  by  the  seraphim,  while  His  vast 
and  voluminous  mantle  filled  the  temple.  The  song  is 
chanted,  "HOLY,  HOLY,  HOLY,"  and  the  house  shakes  at 
the  thunder  of  the  anthem.  The  prophet  cannot  engage 


446  PAUL   IN   ROME. 

in  it,  as  his  lips  were  unclean ;  but  a  seraph  flies  with  a  live 
coal  and  lays  it  on  them,  and  they  are  refined  and  tuned 
to  the  melody.  The  challenge  then  issues  from  Jehovah 
upon  the  throne,  "  Whom  shall  I  send,  and  who  will  go 
for  us?"  and  the  prophet  no  sooner  responds,  "Here  am 
I,  send  me,"  than  he  receives  the  commission  which  the 
apostle  declares  to  be  yet  so  applicable  to  the  people.  It 
runs  thus — 

"  Go,  and  say  to  this  people,  hear  ye  on  but  understand  not, 
And  see  ye  on  but  perceive  not ; 
Make  fat  the  heart  of  this  people, 
And  their  ears  make  heavy,  and  their  eyes  smear  up : 
Lest  they  see  with  their  eyes,  and  hear  with  their  ears, 
And  understand  with  their  heart,  and  turn  and  be  healed." 

The  oracle  is  quoted  three  times  in  the  New  Testament 
with  peculiar  variations — twice  by  our  Lord,  Matt.  xiii.  14, 
and  in  John  xii.  39,  40.  In  Matthew,  and  in  this  place 
of  Acts,  the  version  is  much  the  same,  and  it  is  that  of  the 
Septuagint,  the  passive  being  used — "  their  heart  is  waxed 
gross,  and  their  ears  are  dull  of  hearing."  The  result  is 
described,  the  cause  being,  the  neglect  of  ordinances — 
vision  without  perception,  hearing  without  instruction. 
As  quoted  in  John,  the  agency  of  God  is  recognized — 
"He  hath  blinded  their  eyes,  and  hardened  their  heart;" 
while  in  the  original  of  Isaiah  it  is  the  work  of  the  pro- 
phet which  produces  the  infatuation,  and  his  commission 
is,  "Make  the  heart  of  this  people  fat."  There  is  no 
material  difference  among  these  forms.  The  prophet  is 
bidden  preach,  and  the  effect  of  his  preaching  is  to  harden 
them ;  as  if  it  were,  "  Go  preach  them  dull  and  callous." 


ISAIAH'S  ORACLE.  447 

Such  was  the  effect,  but  not  the  intention  of  his  labours ; 
but  God  foreknowing  the  result,  simply  and  bitterly  says, 
"  Go  and  infatuate  them."  And  if  the  message  has  such  an 
effect — a  message  from  God  Himself — then  the  result  as 
well  as  the  process  may  be  ascribed  to  Him — "  He  hath 
made  the  heart  of  this  people  gross."  There  is  therefore  no 
difficulty.  The  responsibility  rests  with  the  people  who 
profit  not  by  the  oracle.  They  believe  it  not,  cease  to 
regard  it — familiarity  with  it  breeding  contempt  for  it — 
and  they  wilfully  harden  their  heart.  The  oracle  is  the 
innocent  means  of  it,  and  he  who  utters  it  may  be  said  in 
this  sense  to  produce  it,  as  the  gospel  is  to  some  "the 
savour  of  death  unto  death."  Nay,  He  who  gives  the 
oracle  and  commissions  His  servant  to  proclaim  it  virtually 
creates  the  effect,  without  in  any  way  impeding  the  free- 
dom or  destroying  the  responsibility  of  those  who  profess 
to  see,  but  apprehend  not,  and  to  listen,  but  regard  not. 

Isaiah  loved  his  people,  though  his  labour  did  not  benefit 
them,  but  rather  did  them  injury  through  their  unbelief. 
The  apostle  repeats  the  oracle,  and  says  that  it  was  verified 
in  his  connection  with  his  countrymen.  They  heard,  but 
did  not  accept  what  they  heard ;  saw,  but  perceived  not 
the  truth  and  beauty  of  what  their  vision  rested  on.  Their 
heart  was  impervious ;  they  were  too  dull  to  detect  the  tones 
of  divinity  in  the  lesson  before  them,  and  too  blind  to 
decipher  signs  and  tokens  of  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy. 
They  would  not  turn  to  God,  and  healing  was  denied  them. 
Darkness  and  disease  should  press  upon  them  to  their  ruin 
and  death.  There  was  no  want  of  evidence,  and  there 
was  no  lack  of  instruction.  They  could  not  say,  let  God 


448  PAUL   IN   ROME. 

speak  louder,  or  let  God  speak  fuller,  or  let  God  speak 
oftener.  Every  available  form  of  lesson  was  given  them, 
but  their  fatuity  only  grew  upon  them ;  as  it  had  been  in 
Jerusalem,  so  it  was  in  Rome.  The  nation  was  approach- 
ing its  end,  and  daring  God  to  judgment. 

And  the  Gentile  races  were  to  occupy  their  position. 
"  Be  it  known  therefore  unto  you,  that  the  salvation  of 
God  is  sent  unto  the  Gentiles,  and  that  they  will  hear  it." 
The  apostle  repeated  what  he  had  done  in  every  town 
which  he  had  visited,  and  especially  at  Antioch  and 
Corinth — presses  salvation  upon  the  Jews,  ere  he  turn  to 
the  Gentiles.  It  had  been  so  predicted.  "  They  will  hear 
it,"  or  accept  it;  and  so  it  has  proved,  for  they  were  not 
prejudiced  like  the  Jews  against  it.  These  words  have  glad- 
dened many  a  soul,  for  the  gospel  is  confined  by  no  boundary, 
and  repelled  by  no  barrier.  It  does  not  confine  itself  to  any 
class,  condition,  or  age,  but  speaks  to  "  this  man  and  that 
man  "  of  every  occupation  and  character,  even  though  for 
a  season  they  might  refuse  to  hear  it :  Bunyan  the  tinker, 
John  Newton  the  sailor,  Colonel  Gardiner  and  Hedley 
Vicars  the  soldiers,  Thomas  Scott  the  minister,  Wilber- 
force  the  senator,  Augustine  the  rhetorician,  Lord  Rochester 
the  courtier,  Africaner  the  savage,  Cowper  in  his  genius, 
and  poor  Joseph  in  his  imbecility.  The  fruits  of  the  gospel 
are  reaped  chiefly  among  the  Gentiles,  there  being  still 
but  few  converts  from  ancient  Israel.  There  are  churches 
in  Europe  among  Celts,  Saxons,  and  Sclaves,  among  the 
Negroes  and  Caffres  in  Africa,  among  Red  Indians  and 
Esquimaux  in  North  America,  among  Malays  and  Mon- 
gols, among  Hindoos  and  Burmese  in  Asia — but  the 


"THEY  WILL  HEAR  IT."  449 

synagogue  yields  only  a  rare  unit  to  Christ.  "  They 
will  hear  it.?'  We  bless  him  for  the  prophecy  as  we 
discern  its  fulfilment ;  as  he  pronounces  it,  we  hail  him 
as  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  magnifying  his  office,  and 
encouraging  himself  in  the  discharge  of  it.  "  They  will 
hear  it" — words  that  have  rung  through  nineteen  centuries, 
and  have  not  spent  their  force — words  that  have  sped 
from  Rome  to  London,  flown  across  the  Atlantic,  and 
echoed  amid  the  islands  of  the  Pacific — words  that  shall 
only  cease  to  have  a  significance  of  contrast  when  God 
shall  bring  in  his  ancient  people  with  the  fulness  of  the 
gentile  nations.  "  They  will  hear  it " — such  are  the  last 
recorded  words  of  him  who  never  forgot  the  Jew,  while 
he  preached  to  the  Gentile ;  who  could  wish  himself 
''  accursed  from  Christ  for  his  brethren,  his  kinsmen 
according  to  the  flesh,"  even  while  he  rejoiced  in  preach- 
ing a  free  and  unconditioned  gospel  to  men  without 
distinction  of  race  or  country.  "  They  will  hear  it  " — our 
apostle  vouches  for  us :  O  that  all  of  us  verified  the 
prophecy,  and  in  city  and  hamlet,  in  crowded  lanes  and 
rural  highways,  heard  it  with  faith  and  spiritual  profit ! 

The  oracle  being  delivered  as  a  farewell,  the  Jews 
departed  and  disputed  keenly  with  one  another.  The 
Roman  power  meanwhile  conceded  comparative  liberty  to 
the  apostle,  for  he  "  dwelt  in  his  own  hired  house,  and 
received  all  that  came  in  unto  him."  He  could  not  go  to 
them,  but  they  came  to  him.  His  life  was  secure  from 
Jewish  conspiracy,  and  he  availed  himself  of  his  privilege. 
Our  last  glimpse  of  him  coincides  with  our  first  view  of 

him — the  aged  man  is  one  with  the  neophyte.     On  being 

2  v 


450  PAUL   IN    ROME. 

converted,  "  straightway  he  preached  Christ."  Such  is 
our  first  intimation  of  his  labours,  and  our  last  is  told  in 
similar  phrase — "  Preaching  the  kingdom  of  God,  and 
teaching  those  things  which  concern  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
with  all  confidence,  no  man  forbidding  him."  As  he  began, 
so  he  concluded.  During  this  period  of  imprisonment,  he 
wrote,  saying — "  For  me  to  live  is  Christ."  It  was  so  in 
Damascus,  and  it  is  so  in  Rome,  after  a  lapse  of  thirty 
years — the  preaching  of  Christ  is  still  the  element  of  his 
prison  life  as  it  had  been  that  of  his  public  life.  He  could 
shake  the  viper  off  his  arm,  but  he  could  not  shake  the 
chain  off  it,  for  it  was  the  will  of  God  that  for  two  years 
he  should  labour  under  the  protection  of  Caesar.  He  tells 
the  result  in  one  of  his  letters — "  But  I  would  ye  should 
understand,  brethren,  that  the  things  which  happened  unto 
me  have  fallen  out  rather  unto  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel ; 
so  that  my  bonds  in  Christ  are  manifest  in  all  the  palace, 
and  in  all  other  places ;  and  many  of  the  brethren  in  the 
Lord,  waxing  confident  by  my  bonds,  are  much  more  bold 
to  speak  the  word  without  fear."  Nay,  more  wonderful 
still,  he  writes  in  the  same  epistle — "  All  the  saints  salute 
you,  chiefly  they  that  are  of  Caesar's  household." 

What  may  not  be  achieved  by  one  man's  labour,  by 
the  energy  of  a  mighty  mind  and  a  great  heart  ?  In  fact 
all  gigantic  movements  have  but  one  vital  centre,  one  im- 
pelling and  controlling  will  and  power.  Such  a  one  is 
usually  and  justly  termed  the  soul  of  the  enterprise.  Other 
minds  unconsciously  yield  to  him,  and  he  transfuses  so  much 
of  his  spirit  into  them,  that  they  feel  and  act  like  portions 
of  himself,  or  become  in  turn  the  centres  of  a  kindred  and 


PAUL  THE   PRISONER.  451 

widening  influence.  The  genius  of  the  apostle  possessed 
this  character  5  it  moulded  and  inspired  those  who  came  in 
contact  with  it.  In  the  imperial  barracks  the  Tarsean  Jew 
in  bonds  was  noted  as  no  ordinary  man,  and  his  words 
spoken  in  season  touched  hearts  whose  occupation  and 
training  were  by  no  means  favourable  to  their  suscepti- 
bility. There  were  others  in  the  palace — that  scene  of 
indescribable  iniquity — on  whom  a  saving  change  had 
been  wrought  by  him.  Wherever  the  apostle  is  he  is 
felt  in  his  power — during  the  storm  in  the  ship,  and  under 
his  appeal  a  prisoner  in  Rome — "  a  prisoner  of  Christ 
Jesus." 

And  thus  in  fine  the  apostle  found  himself  in  Rome, 
among  two  millions  of  human  beings,  citizens  and  foreigners ; 
the  latter  being  gathered  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  and 
representing  all  races  and  religions.  Its  streets  and  forum , 
its  baths  and  temples,-  its  palaces  and  theatres  studding  its 
seven  hills,  presented  an  architectural  splendour  which  was 
darkly  fringed  with  scenes  of  squalor,  poverty,  and  vice.  It 
was  the  world  in  miniature.  Africa  and  Britain,  India 
and  Spain  met  in  it,  with  sailors  from  every  country,  and 
captives  from  every  province.  All  lands  were  tributary  to 
it,  and  the  names  of  its  consuls,  praetors,  and  Ca?sars  had 
reproduced  themselves  in  barbarous  tongues.  The  earth 
bowed  at  the  throne  of  Nero,  and  his  will  was  felt  over 
myriads  of  many  colours  and  climes.  Mighty  tides  of  influ- 
ence streamed  out  from  the  city  on  all  sides,  and  struck  on 
the  most  distant  shores.  Therefore,  vital  evangelical 
power  established  in  it  would  soon  radiate  to  the  ends  of 
the  empire.  Pilgrims  would  carry  it  in  their  treasure. 


452  PAUL   IN   HOME. 

it  would  march  with  the  legions,  and  returning  prisoners 
would  bring  back  the  gladsome  news.  The  apostle  aimed 
at  such  an  end;  and  though  a  cause  was  usually  heard 
within  a  week  of  the  appellant's  arrival,  for  "  two  whole 
years  "  was  the  apostle  permitted  to  labour  "with  all  confi- 
dence, no  man  forbidding  him."  Then  was  laid  the 
foundation  of  many  churches  in  the  Italian  peninsula  and 
over  Europe,  a  vast  network  of  missionary  operations, 
connecting  itself  with  the  Jewish  bondman  at  Home — a 
prisoner,  and  yet  the  apostle  of  the  Gentiles.  They  who 
saw  him  and  conversed  with  him  caught  his  spirit  and 
carried  away  his  words,  carried  them  beyond  the  Campagna 
and  up  the  slopes  of  the  Alban  and  Sabine  hills,  over  the 
Alps  into  Gaul,  and  across  the  channel  to  our  native  isle. 

The  book  of  the  "Acts"  closes  with  this  account  of 
Paul's  imprisonment.  The  gospel  is  at  length  preached  in 
Rome  by  an  apostle — an  earnest  of  its  universal  diffusion, 
and  of  the  fulfilment  of  the  Lord's  own  promise.  Critics 
and  historians  vary  as  to  the  period  of  the  apostle's  death 
— some  holding  that  he  was  released,  and  that,  after  more 
missionary  labours  and  travels,  he  was  again  apprehended, 
brought  to  Rome,  tried,  and  executed ;  and  others  main- 
taining that  soon  after  the  period  specified  in  the  conclusion 
of  the  "Acts,"  he  was  put  to  death  by  Nero ;  tradition 
placing  its  time  on  the  29th  of  June,  and  its  scene  at  Aquas 
Salviae,  ofi  the  Ostian  road,  about  two  miles  from  the  city. 
Thus  he  who  had  been  "  apprehended  of  Christ  Jesus,"  and 
"  separated  unto  the  gospel ;"  who  had  "  lived  by  the  faith 
of  the  Son  of  God,"  and  by  His  grace  had  "  laboured  more 
abundantly"  than  his  colleagues;  who  had  "filled  up  that 


HIS    MARTYRDOM. 


453 


which  was  behind  of  the  afflictions  of  Christ  in  his  flesh  for 
His  body's  sake,"  and  entered  into  "  the  fellowship  of  His 
sufferings,"  received  at  length  his  heart's  desire  in  "being- 
made  conformable  unto  His  death." 


THE   END. 


Printed  by  William  Mackenzie,  Glasgow 


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B  26  1934 

JAN    30  1942 


DEC   8    11142 


LD  21-50m-l,'3: 


YC.ICI374 


M 


